Monica Mezzalama (center) receives a plaque from CIMMYT’s director general Martin Kropff (left) recognizing her accomplishments. (Photo: CIMMYT)
Twenty years flew by for Monica Mezzalama, now former Pathologist and Head of the Seed Health Unit at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). At the end of January 2019, she made her way back to her hometown of Turin, Italy. Looking back at her tenure, Monica told us she felt “overwhelmed” by the opportunities that CIMMYT has given her.
Founded in 1988, the CIMMYT Seed Health lab began with five employees, eventually expanding to eight people. With Mezzalama at the helm since 2001, the unit has become a crucial part of CIMMYT’s operation in conducting global and national germplasm exchanges. Some would say that seed distribution is the “lifeblood” of CIMMYT.
Around the world, CIMMYT is known as a reliable distributor of seeds. According to Mezzalama, this is crucial not only for farmers but for other researchers. Without proper regulatory precautions, one can jeopardize the work of others when handling pathogens that can affect seeds.
CIMMYT distributes seed in collaboration with more than 100 countries worldwide, many of which don’t receive support or seed from any other institution. According to Mezzalama, “CIMMYT’s reputation is on the line,” if healthy, quality seed is not delivered. Under Mezzalama’s watch there were never such problems with CIMMYT seeds.
Seeds are judged on appearances and must be good-looking as well as healthy. “Presentation standards are key because genetics aren’t immediately seen when the seeds are delivered,” Mezzalama states. If unattractive seed is discarded, then money is metaphorically being thrown away. Beyond saving money, quality seed control conducted by the Seed Health Unit helps keep data fresh and research up to date.
Good seed health depends on leadership like that from Mezzalama. Among the accomplishments of her two-decade tenure at CIMMYT, she formed and led a team that has responded quickly and effectively to emerging maize and wheat disease epidemics. In the midst of finding solutions to phytosanitary and biosafety challenges, she also took time to mentor young scientists and colleagues.
Monica Mezzalama will be moving on to the University of Turin in Italy to take on a new challenge in the academic world as a professor of Phytopathology. She expressed sadness at leaving CIMMYT, but gratitude at the opportunities CIMMYT has given her to grow professionally and the freedom to explore and experiment within her laboratory.
Mezzalama’s work and the team she leaves behind provide a strong base for continued safeguarding of CIMMYT’s international seed distribution efforts under her successor’s leadership. Down the road, Mezzalama hopes to maintain collaboration with CIMMYT in sustainable agricultural efforts.
Genomics is a wide theme of interest for geneticists. As part of the efforts to advance on this subject, Fernando H. Toledo, associated scientist in agricultural statistics at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), is working on the research of genomic selection models to increase accuracy. His research considers several complex traits and environmental conditions under climate change scenarios.
The research in which Toledo works is multidisciplinary — it involves genetics and breeding knowledge, as well as statistics and computer science. “This work is fundamental for the breeding and farming community. Our aim is to allow breeders to pursue precise selection of new genetic materials with good performance and ensuring food security in the field under varying environmental conditions.”
Fernando H. Toledo was born in São Paulo, Brazil, but grew up in Curitiba, Paraná, one of the biggest agricultural states in the country. He obtained his engineering degree, with a major in crop science, at Paraná Federal University.
He got his master’s degree in genetics and plant breeding at Lavras Federal University, under the supervision of Magno Ramalho, one of the most prestigious breeders in Brazil. During his Ph.D. in quantitative genetics at the Agricultural College of the University of São Paulo, Fernando was advised by Roland Vencovsky, known as the father of quantitative genetics in the country. “The main lesson I took from both of them was that biometrics science must try to answer the breeders’ questions.”
CIMMYT’s work is highly relevant to breeding activities in Brazil. It dates back to the 1950s when Brazilian breeders and geneticists took maize populations and varieties to be important resources of their current germplasm. “The public and private sectors in Brazil recognize the importance of CIMMYT, which awoke my interest in working in a relevant institute for agriculture in developing countries.”
In 2015, Toledo applied for a postdoctoral position at the Biometrics and Statistics Unit of the Genetic Recourses Program at CIMMYT. He started working as an associate scientist in 2017.
As part of this unit, Toledo is currently involved in the planning and analysis of field trials comprising phenotypic and genomic data. He is developing new models and methods for these analysis as well as plant breeding simulations. “Genomic selection has been used over CIMMYT’s breeding programs before but there are still a lot of improvements to implement, so new models of analysis can be tested under simulated scenarios, which results in better recommendations for breeders.”
On top of that, he is implementing new open-source high-performance software products to facilitate the use of cutting-edge methods for data analysis. “I really like the connection we can build at CIMMYT in terms of practical work for breeders and the development of new statistical methods, models, tools and software we release to attend their requirements, with the main aim of improving precision during the selection of the best genetic materials.”
Led by Juan Burgueño, senior biometrician and head of the Biometrics and Statistics Unit, Toledo is training students, scientists and partners regarding statistical concepts and data analysis. “These trainings courses are a great opportunity to share our work with others and to learn the scientists’ needs in order to improve our capabilities.”
Toledo’s main inspiration to continue his work at CIMMYT is having the opportunity to generate knowledge for others in developing countries. “Our work is driven by the breeders’ needs and that usually helps them to improve their understanding by using what we developed for them and making it a forward-backward relation, which is fascinating.”
“Crop modelling has the potential to significantly contribute to global food and nutrition security,” claim the authors of a recently published paper on the role of modelling in international crop research. “Millions of farmers, and the societies that depend on their production, are relying on us to step up to the plate.”
Among other uses, crop modelling allows for foresight analysis of agricultural systems under global change scenarios and the prediction of potential consequences of food system shocks. New technologies and conceptual breakthroughs have also allowed modelling to contribute to a better understanding of crop performance and yield gaps, improved predictions of pest outbreaks, more efficient irrigation systems and the optimization of planting dates.
While renewed interest in the topic has led in recent years to the development of collaborative initiatives such as the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) and the CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture, further investment is needed in order to improve the collection of open access, easy-to-use data available for crop modelling purposes. Strong impact on a global scale will require a wide range of stakeholders – from academia to the private sector – to contribute to the development of large, multi-location datasets.
Resource-poor farmers worldwide stand to gain from developments in the field of crop modelling. (Photo: H. De Groote/CIMMYT)
In “Role of Modelling in International Crop Research: Overview and Some Case Studies,” CGIAR researchers outline the history and basic principles of crop modelling, and describe major theoretical advances and their practical applications by international crop research centers. They also highlight the importance of agri-food systems, which they view as key to meeting global development challenges. “The renewed focus on the systems-level has created significant opportunities for modelers to participant in enhancing the impact of science on developments. However, a coherent approach based on principles of transparency, cooperation and innovation is essential to achieving this.”
The authors call for closer interdisciplinary collaboration to better serve the crop research and development communities through the provision of model-based recommendations which could range from government-level policy development to direct crop management support for resource-poor farmers.
As the world heats up and water grows scarce, threatening the productivity of humankind’s preferred crops, breeder Marcela Carvalho Andrade and her colleagues at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) are working to toughen maize, drawing resilience traits from landraces, the forerunners of modern maize.
For decades, scientists have sought to utilize the hardiness of maize landraces, which evolved over millennia of farmer selection for adaptation to diverse and sometimes harsh local settings in Mexico, Central and South America.
But crossing elite varieties with landraces brings along wild traits that are difficult and costly to purge, including lower grain yields, excessive tallness or a tendency to fall over in strong winds. For this and for their genetic complexity, landraces are seldom used directly in breeding programs, according to Andrade.
Crosses that home in on genetically complex traits
“Our strategy is to cross selected landraces with elite maize lines, thus developing improved lines that can be directly incorporated and recycled in breeding programs,” explained Andrade, who joined CIMMYT in 2016.
The traits sought include better resilience under high temperatures, drought conditions or the attacks of rapidly-evolving crop diseases. “All these features will be critical for the future productivity of maize,” said Andrade.
One of the world’s three most important crops, maize contributes over 20% of the calories in human diets in 21 low-income countries, as well as being used in industry, biofuels, and feed for livestock and poultry.
Andrade and the maize breeding team develop new lines that carry a 75 percent genetic contribution from the elite source and 25 percent from a landrace. The aim she said is to get the good components from both sides, while broadening maize’s genetic diversity for use by breeders and ultimately farmers.
The resulting lines and hybrids are tested for yield, resilience and overall agronomic performance, under both normal growing conditions and “stressed” environments; for example, in plots grown at sites with high temperatures or reduced water availability.
“We can thus identify landraces that offer traits of interest, as well as generating improved breeding lines to strengthen the resilience of elite maize without reducing its yield,” said Andrade, noting that the research employs conventional cross-pollination and selection.
According to Andrade, CIMMYT has carried out large-scale molecular analysis of its maize seed collections, which number around 28,000 and comprise landraces from 70 countries.
“Over the past years, CIMMYT has used genetic diversity analyses of its maize collections to select landraces for use in drought tolerance breeding or for finding lines that are resistant to newly important diseases such as Maize Lethal Necrosis or Tar Spot,” she explained. “Genetic diversity analysis allows us to narrow the number of candidate landrace sources that we need to cross and assess in the field.”
The viral disease Maize Lethal Necrosis (MLN) has devastated crops in eastern Africa since its appearance there in 2011.
The researchers have also found landrace sources of resilience against Tar Spot Complex, a maize disease of the Americas that can cause 50 percent or greater yield losses in infected crops.
Benefiting breeding and farmers
Andrade said the breeding team expects to release a first wave of landrace-derived, improved maize lines in 2019, some featuring enhanced drought tolerance and others that provide better resistance to Tar Spot.
“The lines we offer will be freely available to breeders worldwide and must yield well and show superior resilience,” Andrade explained. “They will have reasonable agronomics—ear and plant height and standability, for example. The lines will not be perfect, but breeders won’t hesitate to use them because we’ve ensured that they are superior for at least one crucial trait and reasonably competitive for most other traits.”
From Brazil to the world
Growing up in a small town and having direct contact with her father’s dairy farm in Minas Gerais, a mainly rural state in Brazil, Andrade finds her CIMMYT work enormously satisfying. “My dad and a few uncles were farmers and complained some years that their crops didn’t yield well,” she says. “I knew I wanted to help them somehow.”
Andrade obtained Bachelor and Master’s degrees in agronomy/plant science from the Universidade Federal de Lavras (UFLA), one of Brazil’s premier institutions of higher education. She later completed a Doctorate in Genetics and Plant Breeding at UFLA, in partnership with Ohio State University.
She credits CIMMYT maize scientist Terry Molnar, her supervisor and mentor, with teaching her the complex ins and outs of maize breeding. “I am a plant breeder and worked previously with vegetables, but I learned the practical aspects of maize breeding from Terry.”
Looking ahead, Andrade sees herself continuing as a plant breeder. “I don’t see myself working in anything else. I would eventually like to lead my own program but, at this point in my career, I’m happy to help transfer landrace traits to modern maize varieties.”
In 2018, our editors continued to cover exciting news and events related to maize and wheat science around the world. Altogether, we published more than 200 stories.
It is impossible to capture all of the places and topics we reported on, but here are some highlights and our favorite stories of the year.
Thank you for being a loyal reader of CIMMYT’s news and features. We are already working on new stories and platforms for 2019. Stay tuned!
In response to the spread of the fall armyworm across Africa, CIMMYT and its partners published a technical guide for integrated pest management. Produced by international experts, it offers details on the best management practices to help smallholder farmers effectively and safely control the pest while simultaneously protecting people, animals and the environment.
This year we launched our new podcast, Cobs & Spikes, where you can listen to stories from the field, interviews and explainers.
The most popular episode so far was about blue maize, a distinctive feature of Mexico’s food culture. Valued for its rich flavor and texture, it is also catching the attention of some food processing companies and high-end culinary markets. CIMMYT researchers are helping Mexican farmers tap into two emerging markets that could boost incomes while conserving culture and biodiversity.
A review of scientific studies on cereal grains and health showed that gluten- or wheat-free diets are not inherently healthier for the general populace and may actually put individuals at risk of dietary deficiencies.
Based on a compilation of 12 reports, eating whole grains is actually beneficial for brain health and associated with reduced risk of diverse types of cancer, coronary disease, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and overall mortality.
Mechanized agricultural services have traditionally only been used by large-scale farmers who could afford them, but small and medium-sized machines are fast becoming affordable options for family farmers through the advent of service providers. An increasing number of young people across eastern and southern Africa are creating a stable living as entrepreneurs, providing agricultural mechanization services.
CIMMYT is offering training courses to promote mechanization in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Trainings equip entrepreneurs with essential business skills and knowledge, tailored to rural environments, so they can support farmers with appropriate mechanization services that sustainably intensify their production.
After receiving training from CIMMYT, this group of young men started a small business offering mechanized agricultural services to smallholder farmers near their town in rural Zimbabwe. (Photo: Matthew O’Leary/CIMMYT)
In a scientific breakthrough, the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium presented an annotated reference genome with a detailed analysis of gene content among subgenomes and the structural organization for all the chromosomes. The research was published on Science.
Over 46 percent of children under five in Guatemala suffer from chronic malnutrition. More than 40 percent of Guatemala’s rural population is deficient in zinc, an essential micronutrient that plays a crucial role in pre-natal and post-natal development and is key to maintaining a healthy immune system.
CIMMYT is working with partners HarvestPlus and Semilla Nueva to reduce malnutrition and zinc deficiency in the country, through the development and deployment of Guatemala’s first biofortified zinc-enriched maize.
CIMMYT was present at the African Green Revolution Forum in Kigali, Rwanda. Leaders discussed practical ways to transform policy declarations into impact on the ground, at a time when farmers are facing the challenge of climate change and the threat of emerging pests and diseases.
On the occasion of this event, CIMMYT’s Director General, Martin Kropff, and the Regional Representative for Africa, Stephen Mugo, authored an op-ed on agricultural innovation in Africa, published by Thomson Reuters (in English) and Jeune Afrique (in French).
The director general of CIMMYT, Martin Kropff, was the keynote speaker of the AGRF 2018 round-table discussion “Quality Means Quantity – Seed Processing Technology and Production Approaches for Agricultural Benefit.” (Photo: CIMMYT)
More than 280 delegates from 20 countries gathered in Ludhiana, in the Indian state of Punjab, for the 13th Asian Maize Conference and Expert Consultation on Maize for Food, Feed, Nutrition and Environmental Security.
Technical sessions and panel discussions covered topics such as novel tools and strategies for increasing genetic gains, stress-resilient maize, sustainable intensification of maize-based cropping systems, specialty maize, processing and value addition, and nutritionally enriched maize for Asia.
Conference participants pose for a group photo at the field visit site during the 13th Asian Maize Conference. (Photo: Manjit Singh/Punjab Agricultural University)
An international team of scientists applied genome-wide association analysis for the first time to study the genetics that underlie grain zinc concentrations in wheat.
Analyzing zinc concentrations in the grain of 330 bread wheat lines across diverse environments in India and Mexico, the researchers uncovered 39 new molecular markers associated with the trait, as well as two wheat genome segments that carry important genes for zinc uptake, translocation, and storage in wheat.
The reported work by wheat scientists paves the way for expanded use of wild grass species, such as Aegilops tauschii (also known as goat grass; pictured here) as sources of new genes for higher grain zinc in wheat. (Photo: Rocio Quiroz/CIMMYT)
A study in Ethiopia found that wheat grown in areas closer to the forest had more nutrients, like zinc and protein. Soils in these areas are rich in organic matter — about 1% higher — due to decomposing trees and plants, as well as manure of livestock grazed in the forest.
Increasing organic matter by 1 percent was associated with an increase in zinc equivalent to meet the daily needs of 0.2 additional people per hectare and an increase in protein equivalent to meeting the daily needs of 0.1 additional people per hectare. These modest increases in soil organic matter contribute a small, but important, increase in nutrients found in wheat.
Although these nutrient increases are not enough to address hidden hunger on their own, they reveal how healthy soils are an additional tool — alongside diet diversity and the biofortification of food — to fight malnutrition.
In 2018 we published our latest annual report, highlighting CIMMYT’s global work and collaboration with partners. It features infographics and case studies from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Haiti, Mexico and Pakistan.
It is a good way to understand how CIMMYT’s science improves livelihoods around the world.
You can read the web version or the PDF of the report, or watch the video summary below.
Around 115 members of the CGIAR breeding community, plus others representing national programs, universities, funders and the private sector, met for a three-day discussion of how to co-develop the next generation of advanced breeding programs that will improve the rate at which resource-poor farmers are able to adopt improved varieties that meet their needs.
The annual Excellence in Breeding Platform (EiB) Contributor’s meeting, held this year in Amsterdam from 13-15 November, caps a year of engagement with CGIAR Centers and national agricultural research system (NARS) partners around the world.
Paul Kimani, from the University of Nairobi, speaks during the meeting. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)
“Although breeding is one of the oldest functions in CGIAR, we have never had a meeting like this with scientists from all the centers,” said Michael Baum, director of Biodiversity and Crop Improvement at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, (ICARDA). “Within CGIAR, plant breeding started as a science, but now we are looking at how to implement it not as a science but as an operation, as it is done in the private sector, so there are many new concepts.”
Key items on the agenda for November were new tools to develop product profiles and create improvement plans that will define the modernization agenda in each center and across the Platform itself, based in part on the Breeding Program Assessment Tool (BPAT) that most Centers completed in 2018.
Ranjitha Puskur, gender research coordinator at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), started an animated discussion on how to incorporate gender into product design by thinking about customer segments.
Tim Byrne from AbacusBio introduced methods for identifying farmer preferences to be targeted by breeding programs.
IRRI’s Ranjitha Puskur started a discussion on how to incorporate gender into product design. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)
In breakout sessions, contributors were able to have detailed discussions according to their various specializations: phenotyping, genotyping and bioinformatics/data management. The direct feedback from contributors will be incorporated into EiB workplans for training and tool development for the coming year.
A key outcome of the meeting was an agreement to finalize the product profile tool, to be made available to EiB members in early December 2018. The tool helps breeders to work with other specialisms, such as markets, socioeconomics and gender, to define the key traits needed in new products for farmers. This helps to focus breeding activities towards areas of greatest impact, supports NARS to play a greater role, and creates accountability and transparency for donors, in part by defining the geographic areas being targeted by programs.
“Breeding trees is different to the annual crops,” said Alice Muchugi, genebank manager at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), “but we are seeing what we can borrow from our colleagues. By uploading what we are doing in maps, for example, donors are able to perceive the specific challenges we are undertaking.”
EiB’s George Kotch describes his vision of product profiles. (Photo: Sam Storr/CIMMYT)
“I think we have realized there are lot of challenges in common, and the Platform is helping us all work on those,” said Filippo Bassi, durum wheat breeder at ICARDA. “I like to see all the people around the room, if you look at the average age there is a big shift; the number of countries present also tells you a lot.”
Tabare Abadie, R&D external academic outreach lead at Corteva Agriscience, also saw the meeting as a good opportunity to meet a broader group of people. “One of the take homes I hear is [that] there are a lot of challenges, but also a lot of communication and understanding. For me as a contributor it’s an incentive to keep supporting EiB, because we have gone through those changes before [at Corteva], and we can provide some know-how and experience of what happens,” Abadie explained.
“There are still a lot of gaps to fill, but this is a good start,” said Thanda Dhliwayo, maize breeder at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). “We need to get everyone involved, from leadership down to the guys working in the field.”
Michael Quinn, director of the CGIAR Excellence in Breeding Platform, discusses the CGIAR’s initiative on crops to end hunger.
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Through pure coincidence, Susanne Dreisigacker fell into the world of agricultural science and landed in Mexico. Her interest in genetics and biology solidified when she arrived at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) through the University of Hohenheim in Germany to pursue her PhD work. Impressed by CIMMYT’s scientific endeavors and its mission, she found herself permanently back at the institution in 2005 as a resident scientist. Now, as the head of CIMMYT’s Wheat Molecular Breeding Lab, Dreisigacker ensures that wheat breeders use the appropriate wheat material to conduct gene profiling and genome sequencing.
Dreisigacker works to discover and validate molecular markers, or DNA segments, for traits of interest. This information helps breeders to develop improved crop varieties that feature those traits.
At its core, her position centers on defining best practices for genomic tool application in the wheat breeding program. These genomic tools serve as “…indirect selection criteria to ultimately assist breeders select improved outputs at the molecular level, such as disease resistance and enhanced nutritional quality in wheat,” explains Dreisigacker. Furthermore, her research amasses data on grain yield and its corresponding components — such as grain weight and other difficult traits to tackle in the wheat breeding world — to help breeders stabilize high yield rates.
On average, over 40,000 wheat lines a year are analyzed on behalf of breeders under Dreisigacker’s direction. The ultimate challenge is organizing this massive data outcome to effectively support the breeders.
Zooming out from the molecular level
Dreisigacker works to discover and validate molecular markers, or DNA segments, for traits of interest. (Photo: Darell Sison)
Working in an environment with interdisciplinary characteristics such as a breeding program, it can be difficult to prioritize which traits merit the bulk of her time. Dreisigacker stresses that teamwork is paramount, from breeders to pathologists to quality specialists, as they all share mutual goals, so their efforts “need to intersect in order to be beneficial.” Dreisigacker enjoys interacting among the disciplines and sharing her work with the international wheat community.
Progress in the application of genomic tools and the push for their usefulness inspires Dreisigacker to continue her work with wheat at CIMMYT. Her work in the laboratory is the backbone of the transmission of better quality germplasm from breeders to farmers. “There is a need to more efficiently integrate gene profiling and genome sequencing into breeding. The transition from upstream genomic research to the processes of application and adaptability are overlooked,” says Dreisigacker.
When she is not looking at wheat at the molecular level, you can find her spending time with her husband and young daughter or teaching exercise classes in CIMMYT’s gymnasium.
Blue maize is a ubiquitous aspect of Mexico’s food culture, especially in the central highlands. Most of it is grown by small-scale farmers for local consumers who value it for its rich flavor and texture. But it’s also catching the attention of some food processing companies who are interested in its health benefits, as well as high-end culinary markets seeking authentic Mexican cuisine. Find out how CIMMYT researchers are helping Mexican farmers tap into two emerging markets that could boost incomes while conserving culture and biodiversity.
After two years of meticulous work, the book Linear Selection Indices in Modern Plant Breeding has been released by Springer International Publishing for use by plant and animal breeders worldwide. The authors of the book, J. Jesus Céron-Rojas and José Crossa, are scientists with the Biometrics and Statistics Unit of the Genetic Resources Program at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). The authors saw a window of opportunity to better explain how various types of linear selection indices can be constructed, interpreted, optimized and applied in breeding through the research presented in this book.
As the first book released on the subject in over thirty years, the publisher describes it as “essential reading for plant quantitative geneticists” and “a valuable resource for animal breeders.” Its high-profile scientific contributions are expected to generate an extensive impact in the international community of theoretical and practical plant and animal breeders.
To examine classification more closely, breeders use indices to categorize traits of interest to make complete representations of desired qualities in plants and animals. Focused on the linear selection index theory and its statistical properties, breeders will be able to use phenotypic and genotypic information to assess the genetic merits of the candidates to selection.
This book is the result of financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), the CGIAR Research Program on Maize (MAIZE)and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat (WHEAT).
Check out other recent publications by CIMMYT researchers below:
1. Soil organic matter underlies crop nutritional quality and productivity in smallholder agriculture. Wood, S.A., Baudron, F. In: Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment v. 266, p. 100-108.
2. Wheat−the cereal abandoned by GM: genetic modification of wheat for disease resistance could help stabilize food production. Wulff, B.B.H., Dhugga, K. In: Science v. 361, no. 6401, p. 451-452.
3. Breeding for provitamin A biofortification of maize (Zea mays L.). Maqbool, M. A., Aslam, M., Issa, A.B., Khan, M. S. In: Plant Breeding v. 137, no. 4, p. 451-469.
4. Occurrence of the root-knot nematode species in vegetable crops in Souss region of Morocco. Janati, S., Abdellah Houari, Ahmed Wifaya, Adil Essarioui, Abdelaziz Mimouni, Abderrahim Hormatallah, Mohamed Sbaghi, Dababat, A.A., Mokrini, F. In: Plant Pathology Journal v. 34, no. 4, p. 308-315.
5. High N fertilizer application to irrigated wheat in Northern Mexico for conventionally tilled and permanent raised beds : effects on N balance and short term N dynamics. Grahmann, K., Verhulst, N., Dittert, K., Govaerts, B., Buerkert, A. In: Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science vol. 181, no. 4, p. 606-620.
6. Correction to: bayesian functional regression as an alternative statistical analysis of high-throughput phenotyping data of modern agriculture. Montesinos-López, A., Montesinos-Lopez, O.A., De los Campos, G., Crossa, J., Burgueño, J., Luna-Vazquez, F.J. In: Plant Methods v. 14, art. 57.
7. β-cryptoxanthin–biofortified hen eggs enhance vitamin a status when fed to male Mongolian gerbils. Heying, E.K., Leary Ziemer, K., Tanumihardjo, J.P., Palacios-Rojas, N., Tanumihardjo, S. A. In: The Journal of Nutrition v.148, no. 8, p. 1236-1243.
8. Urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts (SDG 13) : transforming agriculture and food systems. Campbell, B.M., Hansen, J.W., Rioux, J., Stirling, C., Twomlow, S., Wollenberg, E. In: Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability v. 34, p. 13-20.
9. Factors affecting the adoption of multiple climate-smart agricultural practices in the Indo-Gangetic plains of India. Aryal, J.P., Rahut, D.B., Maharjan, S., Erenstein, O. In: Natural Resources Forum v. 42, no. 3, p. 141-158.
The new lines are specifically adapted to tropical/subtropical maize production environments in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and are freely available to both public and private sector breeders worldwide.
CML582, one of the 26 new CIMMYT maize lines released by the Center. (Photo: CIMMYT)
CIMMYT is pleased to announce the release of a set of 26 new CIMMYT maize lines (CMLs). These CMLs were developed by the CIMMYT Global Maize Program’s multi-disciplinary teams of scientists at breeding locations in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Asia. These lines are adapted to the tropical/subtropical maize production environments targeted by CIMMYT and partner institutions. CMLs are freely available to both public and private sector breeders worldwide under the standard material transfer agreement (SMTA).
CIMMYT seeks to develop improved maize inbred lines with superior performance and multiple stress tolerance to improve maize productivity for resource-constrained smallholder farmers. To achieve this aim, CMLs are released after intensive evaluation in hybrid combinations under various abiotic and biotic stresses. Suitability as either seed or pollen parent is also thoroughly evaluated.
Release of a CML does not guarantee high combining ability or per se performance in all environments; rather, it indicates that the line is promising or useful as a hybrid component or parent for pedigree breeding for one or more target mega-environments. The descriptions of the lines include heterotic group classification, along with information on their specific combining ability with widely-used CIMMYT lines.
For a summary of the 26 new CMLs, please click here.
Further details on all CMLs, including the pedigrees, are available here.
A limited quantity of seed of the CMLs can be obtained from the CIMMYT Germplasm Bank. To send a request, please contact Denise Costich, Head of the Maize Genetic Resources Center: d.costich@cgiar.org.
For further details, please contact B.M. Prasanna, Director of the CGIAR Research Program MAIZE and Director of CIMMYT’s Global Maize Program: b.m.prasanna@cgiar.org.
CIMMYT maize germplasm bank staff preparing the order for the repatriation of Guatemalan seed varieties. (Photo: CIMMYT)
The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) maize germplasm bank recently received an award in recognition of its contributions towards the Buena Milpa initiative in Guatemala, which aims to enhance the sustainability of maize systems in the country. Denise Costich, head of the maize germplasm bank, received the award on behalf of CIMMYT during the event ‘Maize of Guatemala: Repatriation, conservation and sustainable use of agro-biodiversity,’ held on September 7, 2018, in Guatemala City.
The seed varieties stored in the CIMMYT germplasm bank were of vital importance in efforts to restore food security in the aftermath of Hurricane Stan, which swept through Guatemala in 2005, leading to 1,500 deaths. Many farmers lost entire crops and some indigenous communities were unable to harvest seed from their traditional maize varieties, known as landraces. Generations of selection by farmers under local conditions had endowed these varieties with resistance to drought, heat, local pests and diseases. Such losses were further exacerbated by the discovery that the entire maize seed collection in Guatemala’s national seed bank had been damaged by humidity; the seeds were vulnerable to insects and fungus and could not be replanted.
In 2016, drawing upon the backup seed stored in its maize germplasm bank in Mexico, CIMMYT sent Guatemalan collaborators seed of 785 native Guatemalan maize varieties, including some of the varieties that had been lost. Collaborators in Guatemala subsequently planted and multiplied the seed from the historic CIMMYT samples, ensuring the varieties grow well under local conditions. On completion of this process, the best materials will be returned to local and national seedbanks in Guatemala, where they will be available for farmers and researchers to grow, study and use in breeding programs.
Jointly hosted by the government of Guatemala through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food and the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the recent ceremony signified the official delivery of the repatriated seed into the national system. Attendees celebrated the importance of maize in Guatemala and witnessed the presentation of repatriated maize collections to local and national Guatemalan seedbank authorities, including the Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (ICTA).
“Supporting the seed conservation networks, on both the national and community levels in countries like Guatemala, is a key part of the mission of the CIMMYT Germplasm Bank,” said Costich. “Our collaboration with the Buena Milpa project has enabled the transfer of both seed and seed conservation technologies to improve the food security in communities with maize-centered diets.”
The Buena Milpa initiative in Guatemala is improving storage practices in community seed reserves: tiny, low-tech seed banks meant to serve as backups for villages in cases of catastrophic seed loss. So far, Buena Milpa has enabled 1,800 farmers to access community seed reserves. In addition, 13,000 farmers have applied improved practices and technologies.
The CIMMYT maize germplasm bank, headquartered in Mexico, serves as a backup for farmers and researchers in times of catastrophic seed loss by safeguarding maize genetic diversity, a crucial building block in global food security.
For the first time ever, a research team of more than 40 scientists has genetically characterized values of exotics in hexaploid wheat. CIMMYT scientists, together with partners in Demark, India, Mexico, Pakistan, and the UK, used next-generation sequencing and multi-environment phenotyping to study the contribution of exotic genomes to pre-breeding lines. Research required collaborative development, evaluation, and deployment of novel genetic resources to breeding programs addressing food security under climate change scenarios in India, Mexico, and Pakistan.
The team generated large-scale pre-breeding materials, which have been evaluated for important traits such as grain yield, quality, and disease resistance. Pre-breeding and haplotype-based approaches revealed useful genetic footprints of exotic lines in pre-breeding germplasm. Results of the study, recently published in Nature Scientific Reports, show that some DNA from exotic germplasm improved the biotic and abiotic stress tolerances of lines derived from crosses of exotics with CIMMYT’s best elite lines.
The practical successes of large-scale, impact-oriented breeding work will be useful to other wheat breeding programs around the world, and the information generated could be used to boost global wheat productivity.
Sukhwinder Singh, wheat lead on CIMMYT’s SeeD Project, explains that pre-breeding is in-demand and the resources developed through this study can serve as tools to address upcoming challenges in wheat production more efficiently, as desirable alleles from exotics have been mobilized into best elite genetic background. Breeding programs can now use this material to deliver outcomes in shorter timeframes by avoiding the lengthy process of searching for exotics first.
This research was conducted as part of the Seeds of Discovery and MasAgro projects in collaboration with the Borlaug Institute for South Asia, and was made possible by generous support from Mexico’s Department of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), the Government of Punjab, and the CGIAR Research Program on Wheat.
Check out other recent publications by CIMMYT researchers below:
Applications of machine learning methods to genomic selection in breeding wheat for rust resistance. González-Camacho, J.M., Ornella, L., Perez-Rodriguez, P., Gianola, D., Dreisigacker, S., Crossa, J. In: Plant Genome v. 11, no. 2, art. 170104.
Bayesian functional regression as an alternative statistical analysis of high‑throughput phenotyping data of modern agriculture. Montesinos-López, A., Montesinos-López, O.A., De los Campos, G., Crossa, J., Burgueño, J., Luna-Vázquez, F.J. In: Plant Methods v. 14, art. 46.
Effect of ppd-a1 and ppd-b1 allelic variants on grain number and thousand-kernel weight of durum wheat and their impact on final grain yield. Arjona, J.M., Royo, C., Dreisigacker, S., Ammar, K., Villegas, D. In: Frontiers in Plant Science v. 9, art. 888.
Genomic-enabled prediction accuracies increased by modeling genotype × environment interaction in durum wheat. Sukumaran, S., Jarquín, D., Crossa, J., Reynolds, M.P. In: Plant Genome v. 11, no. 2, art. 170112.
Mexican tropical cream cheese yield using low-fat milk induced by trans-10, cis-12 conjugated linoleic acid: effect of palmitic acid. Granados-Rivera, L.D., Hernández-Mendo, O., Burgueño, J., Gonzalez-Munoz, S.S., Mendoza-Martinez, G.D., Mora-Flores, J.S., Arriaga-Jordan, C.M. In: CyTA-Journal of Food v. 16, no. 1, p. 311-315.
Carolina Sansaloni is a molecular geneticist and leader of the Genetic Analysis Service for Agriculture, a high throughput genotyping platform managed by CIMMYT’s Seeds of Discovery initiative that uses Diversity Arrays Technology. She regularly contributes to projects that have strategic significance in wheat pathology, disease resistance, quality, functional genomics and bioinformatics.
Sansaloni also works on the wheat Global Diversity Analysis, which characterizes and analyses seeds in genebanks at CIMMYT and the International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA). Her team has characterized around 100,000 wheat accessions, including more than 40 species that represent 40 percent of the CIMMYT genebank and almost 100 percent of the ICARDA ‘s genebank wheat collection. This is an incredible and unique resource for wheat scientists that provides a genetic framework to help select the most relevant accessions for breeding.
Sarah Hearne serves as the Chief Science and Innovation Officer (CSO) at CIMMYT, leading efforts to implement a cohesive, interconnected, and multidisciplinary approach to research and partnerships. Her role focuses on fostering collaboration, leveraging complementarities across CIMMYT’s core research areas, and ensuring the organization remains future-ready. Through strategic alignment, she drives CIMMYT’s ability to deliver on its cutting-edge mission and vision, advancing sustainable agricultural solutions on a global scale.
Juan Burgueño is a senior scientist and head of CIMMYT’s biometrics and statistics unit. He and his team are committed to developing new mathematical and statistical methodologies, and applying them to solve the problems CIMMYT and partner researchers face.
Burgueño and his team mainly focus on research, consultancy and training on a broad range of topics like experimental design, multi-environment cultivar trials, agronomy, pathology and entomology experiments, genetic resources conservation, mapping quantitative trait loci, genome selection and genetic diversity.
As head of the unit, he coordinates the team’s efforts in these areas and strengthens CIMMYT’s team of biometricians in order to effectively collaborate and help CIMMYT’s staff and partners. Burgueño mainly contributes to experimental design, statistical modeling, genome selection and analysis of high-throughput phenotyping data.
EL BATAN, Mexico (CIMMYT) — Through pure coincidence, Susanne Dreisigacker fell into the world of agricultural science and landed in Mexico. Her interest in genetics and biology solidified when she arrived at the 
