Long-term management of the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica: Strategy evaluation with a population model

P.R. Westerman; A. van Ast; T.J. Stomph; W. van der Werf

doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2006.01.017

Long-term management of the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica: Strategy evaluation with a population model

Crop Protection ◽

10.1016/j.cropro.2006.01.017 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 219-227 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

P.R. Westerman ◽

A. van Ast ◽

T.J. Stomph ◽

W. van der Werf

Keyword(s):

Population Model ◽

Striga Hermonthica ◽

Parasitic Weed ◽

Strategy Evaluation ◽

Term Management

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Long-term management of Striga hermonthica: strategy evaluation with a spatio-temporal population model

Weed Research ◽

10.1111/j.1365-3180.2008.00638.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 48 (4) ◽

pp. 329-339 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

T A VAN MOURIK ◽

F J J A BIANCHI ◽

W VAN DER WERF ◽

T J STOMPH

Keyword(s):

Population Model ◽

Striga Hermonthica ◽

Strategy Evaluation ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

Term Management

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Genomics of sorghum local adaptation to a parasitic plant

10.1101/633529 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Emily S. Bellis ◽

Elizabeth A. Kelly ◽

Claire M. Lorts ◽

Huirong Gao ◽

Victoria L. DeLeo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Local Adaptation ◽

Striga Hermonthica ◽

Wild Plant ◽

Parasitic Weed ◽

Genome Wide ◽

Staple Crop ◽

Term Maintenance ◽

Maintenance Of Diversity

ABSTRACTHost-parasite coevolution can maintain high levels of genetic diversity in traits involved in species interactions. In many systems, host traits exploited by parasites are constrained by use in other functions, leading to complex selective pressures across space and time. Here, we study genome-wide variation in the staple crop Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench and its association with the parasitic weed Striga hermonthica (Delile) Benth., a major constraint to food security in Africa. We hypothesize that geographic selection mosaics across gradients of parasite occurrence maintain genetic diversity in sorghum landrace resistance. Suggesting a role in local adaptation to parasite pressure, multiple independent loss-of-function alleles at sorghum LOW GERMINATION STIMULANT 1 (LGS1) are broadly distributed among African landraces and geographically associated with S. hermonthica occurrence. However, low frequency of these alleles within S. hermonthica-prone regions and their absence elsewhere implicate potential tradeoffs restricting their fixation. LGS1 is thought to cause resistance by changing stereochemistry of strigolactones, hormones that control plant architecture and belowground signaling to mycorrhizae and are required to stimulate parasite germination. Consistent with tradeoffs, we find signatures of balancing selection surrounding LGS1 and other candidates from analysis of genome-wide associations with parasite distribution. Experiments with CRISPR-Cas9 edited sorghum further indicate the benefit of LGS1-mediated resistance strongly depends on parasite genotype and abiotic environment and comes at the cost of reduced photosystem gene expression. Our study demonstrates long-term maintenance of diversity in host resistance genes across smallholder agroecosystems, providing a valuable comparison to both industrial farming systems and natural communities.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTUnderstanding co-evolution in crop-parasite systems is critical to management of myriad pests and pathogens confronting modern agriculture. In contrast to wild plant communities, parasites in agricultural ecosystems are usually expected to gain the upper hand in co-evolutionary ‘arms races’ due to limited genetic diversity of host crops in cultivation. Here, we develop a framework to characterize associations between genome variants in global landraces (traditional varieties) of the staple crop sorghum with the distribution of the devastating parasitic weed Striga hermonthica. We find long-term maintenance of diversity in genes related to parasite resistance, highlighting an important role of host adaptation for co-evolutionary dynamics in smallholder agroecosystems.

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