Individual plant genetics reveal the control of local adaptation in European maize landraces
Abstract Background European maize landraces encompass a large amount of genetic diversity, allowing them to be well-adapted to their local environments. This diversity can be exploited to improve the fitness of elite material in the face of a changing climate. Results We characterized the genetic d...
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2025-05-01
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02241-8 |
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| author | Leke Victor Aiyesa Dietrich Kaufmann Birgit Zumbach Wolfgang Link Stefan Scholten Timothy Beissinger |
| author_facet | Leke Victor Aiyesa Dietrich Kaufmann Birgit Zumbach Wolfgang Link Stefan Scholten Timothy Beissinger |
| author_sort | Leke Victor Aiyesa |
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| description | Abstract Background European maize landraces encompass a large amount of genetic diversity, allowing them to be well-adapted to their local environments. This diversity can be exploited to improve the fitness of elite material in the face of a changing climate. Results We characterized the genetic diversity of 333 individual plants from 40 European maize landrace populations (EMLPs). We identified five genetic groups that mirrored the proximities of their geographical origins. Fixation indices showed moderate differentiation among genetic groups (0.034 to 0.093). More than half of the genetic variance was observed to be partitioned among individuals. Nucleotide diversity of EMLPs decreased significantly as latitude increased (from 0.16 to 0.04), suggesting serial founder events during maize expansion in Europe. GWAS with latitude, longitude, and elevation as response variables identified 28, 347, and 68 significant SNP positions, respectively. We pinpointed significant SNPs near dwarf8, tb1, ZCN7, ZCN8, and ZmMADS69 and identified 126 candidate genes with ontology terms indicative of local adaptation in maize, regulating adaptation to diverse abiotic and biotic environmental stresses. Conclusions This study suggests a quick and cost-efficient approach to identifying genes involved in local adaptation without requiring field data. The EMLPs used in this study have been assembled to serve as a continuing resource of genetic diversity for further research aimed at improving agronomically relevant adaptation traits. |
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| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
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| spelling | doaj-art-3c0baa6ddb3946f6a7ad110723bcdf962025-08-20T02:29:51ZengBMCBMC Biology1741-70072025-05-0123111410.1186/s12915-025-02241-8Individual plant genetics reveal the control of local adaptation in European maize landracesLeke Victor Aiyesa0Dietrich Kaufmann1Birgit Zumbach2Wolfgang Link3Stefan Scholten4Timothy Beissinger5Division of Plant Breeding Methodology, Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Georg-August-University of GöttingenDivision of Plant Breeding Methodology, Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Georg-August-University of GöttingenDivision of Plant Breeding Methodology, Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Georg-August-University of GöttingenDivision of Plant Breeding Methodology, Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Georg-August-University of GöttingenDivision of Crop Plants Genetics, Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Georg-August-University of GöttingenHeritable AgricultureAbstract Background European maize landraces encompass a large amount of genetic diversity, allowing them to be well-adapted to their local environments. This diversity can be exploited to improve the fitness of elite material in the face of a changing climate. Results We characterized the genetic diversity of 333 individual plants from 40 European maize landrace populations (EMLPs). We identified five genetic groups that mirrored the proximities of their geographical origins. Fixation indices showed moderate differentiation among genetic groups (0.034 to 0.093). More than half of the genetic variance was observed to be partitioned among individuals. Nucleotide diversity of EMLPs decreased significantly as latitude increased (from 0.16 to 0.04), suggesting serial founder events during maize expansion in Europe. GWAS with latitude, longitude, and elevation as response variables identified 28, 347, and 68 significant SNP positions, respectively. We pinpointed significant SNPs near dwarf8, tb1, ZCN7, ZCN8, and ZmMADS69 and identified 126 candidate genes with ontology terms indicative of local adaptation in maize, regulating adaptation to diverse abiotic and biotic environmental stresses. Conclusions This study suggests a quick and cost-efficient approach to identifying genes involved in local adaptation without requiring field data. The EMLPs used in this study have been assembled to serve as a continuing resource of genetic diversity for further research aimed at improving agronomically relevant adaptation traits.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02241-8Individual plantsNucleotide diversityFounder eventSelection signatures |
| spellingShingle | Leke Victor Aiyesa Dietrich Kaufmann Birgit Zumbach Wolfgang Link Stefan Scholten Timothy Beissinger Individual plant genetics reveal the control of local adaptation in European maize landraces BMC Biology Individual plants Nucleotide diversity Founder event Selection signatures |
| title | Individual plant genetics reveal the control of local adaptation in European maize landraces |
| title_full | Individual plant genetics reveal the control of local adaptation in European maize landraces |
| title_fullStr | Individual plant genetics reveal the control of local adaptation in European maize landraces |
| title_full_unstemmed | Individual plant genetics reveal the control of local adaptation in European maize landraces |
| title_short | Individual plant genetics reveal the control of local adaptation in European maize landraces |
| title_sort | individual plant genetics reveal the control of local adaptation in european maize landraces |
| topic | Individual plants Nucleotide diversity Founder event Selection signatures |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02241-8 |
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