Re-imagining crop domestication in the era of high throughput phenomics

De novo domestication is an exciting option for increasing species diversity and ecosystem service functionality of agricultural landscapes. Genomic selection (GS), the application of genomic markers to predict phenotypic traits in a breeding population, offers the possibility of rapid genetic improvement, making GS especially attractive for modifying traits of longlived species. However, for some wild species just entering the domestication pipeline, especially those with large and complex genomes, a lack of funding and/or prior genome characterization, GS is often out of reach. High throughput phenomics has the potential to augment traditional pedigree selection, reduce costs and amplify impacts of genomic selection, and even create new predictive selection approaches independent of sequencing or pedigrees.

Automated summary

De novo domestication is an exciting option for increasing species diversity and ecosystem service functionality of agricultural landscapes. Genomic selection (GS) offers the possibility of rapid genetic improvement, but it may be challenging for some wild species just entering the domestication pipeline. High throughput phenomics has the potential to augment traditional pedigree selection, reduce costs, and even create new predictive selection approaches independent of sequencing or pedigrees.