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Significance Wild relatives of crops often contain traits such as pest resistance that can be tapped to improve cultivated varieties. This is typically accomplished by crossing wild plants with cultivars,… Click to show full abstract
Significance Wild relatives of crops often contain traits such as pest resistance that can be tapped to improve cultivated varieties. This is typically accomplished by crossing wild plants with cultivars, followed by backcrossing (introgression) to remove unwanted genetic material from the crop. However, it can be challenging to remove all unwanted genes, a phenomenon called linkage drag. In this paper, we generate and analyze reference sequences and trait data for sunflower to examine the consequences of linkage drag. We find that crop wild introgression has increased the genetic diversity of the crop gene pool. However, introgression has negatively affected yield and quality-related traits. We conclude by discussing potential strategies to minimize linkage drag.
Journal Title: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Year Published: 2023
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