SCAN: ‘Fandango’: Long Term Adaptation of Exotic Germplasm to a Portuguese On-Farm-Conservation and Breeding Project

SCAN Seminar

Title: ‘Fandango’: Long Term Adaptation of Exotic Germplasm to a Portuguese On-Farm-Conservation and Breeding Project

Speaker: Pedro Moreira, ESA Coimbra. Departamento de Fitotecnia. Sector de Protecção Vegetal and ITQB

Abstract:

Climatic change issues emphasis the importance of biodiversity maintenance, in the same way germplasm adapted to organic, low input, conventional conditions is needed to face future demands.
This study will present:
I - The two steps genesis of the synthetic maize variety ‘Fandango’.
A) ‘Nutica’ creation: in 1975, Miguel Mota and Silas Pêgo, initiated a new type of polycross method involving 76 yellow elite inbred lines (dent and flint; 20% Portuguese and 80% American germplasm) from the NUMI program. These inbreds were recombined in natural isolation and progenies submitted to intensive selection for both parents during continued cycles;
B) From ‘Nutica’ to ‘Fandango’: ‘Fandango’ was composed of all the crosses that resulted from Design 1 cross-pollination (1 male crossed with 5 females) applied to ‘Nutica’.

II- The diversity evolution of ‘Fandango’ under a Participatory Breeding project at the Portuguese Sousa Valley region (VASO) initiated in 1985 by S. Pêgo, with CIMMYT support.
Morphological, fasciation expression, and yield data were conducted in Portugal (3 locations, 3 years) and in the USA (4 locations, 1 year) using five to seven cycles of mass selection (MS). ANOVA and regression analyses on the rate of direct response to selection were performed when the assumption of normality was positively confirmed. Otherwise the non-parametric Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS) was performed.
Additionally some non-parametric methods with good interpretability (MARS, decision trees and random forests) were used in order to get insights on the causes that explain the yield.

Keywords: Zea mays, ‘Fandango’, open-pollinated varieties, synthetic variety, participatory plant breeding, genetic diversity.

Short CV
1994 - Graduated by Instituto Superior de Agronomia in Engenharia Agronómica (five years course)
2001 - Master degree in Sustainable Agriculture and Horticulture.
1995-1999 –teaching at Escola Superior Agrária de Ponte de Lima and research in PAMAF 1013 at NUMI-BPGV and PAMAF 2013 at ENFVN.
1999 – Present. Assistant professor at Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra.
2004 – Luso American Foundation Scholarship – Iowa State University, under supervision of Prof. Arnel Hallauer.
2005 – Beginning of PhD Project “Effectiveness of Selection Methods for Improvement of Portuguese Maize” (SFRH/BD/22188/2005) under the supervision of Prof. Arnel Hallauer (ISU, USA), Dr. Silas Pêgo and Dr. Carlota Vaz Patto (ITQB-UNL).
My research topic is plant quantitative genetics and PhD will allow to: 1) evaluate the selection process developed in VASO project a participatory maize breeding project that was iniciated in 1984 by Dr. Silas Pêgo; 2) study of the fasciation trait present in landraces, synthetics and inbreeds, under the project FCT (PTDC/AGR-AAM/70845/2006) "Analysis of the breeding potential of fasciation traits in Portuguese maize landraces".

National representative of On-Farm conservation and management of European and Cooperative Program for Crop Resources Networks (ECPGR).
National representative of COST action 866 (“Green Care in Agriculture”).