Project
Exploring and Promoting “Orphan/Opportunity” Crops: Gynandropsis gynandra as a model
Despite an increasing awareness of the potential of "orphan" or “opportunity” crops to contribute to food security and enhanced livelihoods for farmers, coordinated research agendas to facilitate production and use of orphan crops by local communities are generally lacking. Together with a large international team, we have been working to establish valuable resources on the genomics, genetics, ethnobotany and chemical, nutritional and phenotypic diversity of several minor crops including the leafy greens Gynandropsis gynandra (African Cabbage) and Corchorus olitorius (Jute Mallow) and Colocasia esculenta (Taro).
As an example, Gynandropsis gynandra, a highly nutritious leafy green species used in Africa and Asia. We have been generating general and species-specific guidelines for participatory, genomics-assisted breeding of this orphan crop. Thus, we have generated fundamental knowledge on the ethnobotany of the crop and about its farming systems. We have complemented this by in-depth knowledge of the vitamin and metabolite contents. Efforts are now underway to develop advanced breeding lines, including F1 hybrids. Also, we have generated a reference genome and used this to investigate fundamental questions related to the evolution of C4 photosynthesis and ancient whole genome duplications.
Publications
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Ten years of Gynandropsis gynandra research for improvement of nutrient-rich leaf consumption : Lessons learnt and way forwards
Annual Plant Reviews Online (2021), Volume: 4, Issue: 3 - ISSN 2639-3832 - p. 767-812. -
The Gynandropsis gynandra genome provides insights into whole-genome duplications and the evolution of C4 photosynthesis in Cleomaceae
The Plant Cell (2023), Volume: 35, Issue: 5 - ISSN 1040-4651 - p. 1334-1359. -
Leaf elemental composition analysis in spider plant [Gynandropsis gynandra L. (Briq.)] differentiates three nutritional groups
Frontiers in Plant Science (2022), Volume: 13 - ISSN 1664-462X -
Phenotypic variation in biomass and related traits among four generations advanced lines of Cleome (Gynandropsis gynandra L. (Briq.))
PLoS ONE (2022), Volume: 17, Issue: 10 October - ISSN 1932-6203 -
Drivers of Management of Spider Plant (Gynandropsis gynandra) Across Different Socio-linguistic Groups in Benin and Togo
Economic Botany (2018), Volume: 72, Issue: 4 - ISSN 0013-0001 - p. 411-435. -
A roadmap for breeding orphan leafy vegetable species : A case study of Gynandropsis gynandra (Cleomaceae)
Horticulture Research (2018), Volume: 5, Issue: 1 - ISSN 2052-7276 -
Natural variation in specialised metabolites production in the leafy vegetable spider plant (Gynandropsis gynandra L. (Briq.)) in Africa and Asia
Phytochemistry (2020), Volume: 178 - ISSN 0031-9422 -
Association between vitamin content, plant morphology and geographical origin in a worldwide collection of the orphan crop Gynandropsis gynandra (Cleomaceae)
Planta (2019), Volume: 250, Issue: 3 - ISSN 0032-0935 - p. 933-947. -
Andromonoecy in Gynandropsis gynandra (L.) Briq. (Cleomaceae) and effects on fruit and seed production
Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution (2018), Volume: 65, Issue: 8 - ISSN 0925-9864 - p. 2231-2239.