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Bernau_Dissertation_20190103.pdf (15.61 MB)

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Exploring Local Adaptation and Drought Tolerance in Chile Peppers (Capsicum spp.) of southern Mexico

Bernau, Vivian Marie
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2393-8101
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1546519028733692

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Horticulture and Crop Science.
Agricultural production is declining in many areas due to global climate change, including declines in precipitation. Furthermore, some farmers facing precipitation deficits already struggle with depleted sources of freshwater for irrigation. Global agriculture must adapt to these challenges and understanding how crops have adapted to varied environments may provide useful insights. In centers of crop diversity, genetic variation found in wild populations and landraces has been, and continues to be, shaped by natural and human selection. Here I explore adaptation to drought in landrace and wild chile peppers (Capsicum spp.) sourced from farms inhabiting diverse environments in southern Mexico—chile’s center of diversity. I review relevant literature on the ecological principle, local adaptation, and how it is utilized in germplasm banks and plant breeding for predictive characterization. I present the results of a controlled experiment where I germinated diverse chile seeds under osmotic stress with varying concentrations of a polyetheylene glycol (PEG) solution. Accessions collected from forests and backyard gardens, and accessions from hotter, drier ecozones germinated slower and less completely than accessions milpa and plantation systems, and from wetter, cooler ecozones, respectively. In a greenhouse study, I grew plants under two levels of irrigation and measured above-ground biomass allocation and drought-adaptive leaf traits to investigate genotype by environment (G×E) interactions and identify signatures of local adaptation to drought stress. Populations from more intensive cultivation systems had larger leaves and produced greater stem and fruit biomass than populations from less intensive cultivation systems. Furthermore, populations from the wetter ecozones had larger leaves than populations from the hotter and drier ecozones. Using responses from my controlled experiments in the greenhouse and growth chamber, as well as global climate and soils databases, I identified regions of the genome that are associated with environmental phenotypes relevant to drought tolerance. This work provides valuable information to explore quantitative trait loci (QTLs) underlying drought tolerance in chile pepper and is a new resource for improving drought tolerance in chile peppers around the world.
Kristin Mercer (Committee Co-Chair)
Leah McHale (Committee Co-Chair)
Lev Jardón (Committee Member)
Pablo Jourdan (Committee Member)
Peter Curtis (Committee Member)
200 p.
Agriculture; Agronomy; Ecology; Plant Biology; Plant Sciences

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Bernau, V. M. (2019). Exploring Local Adaptation and Drought Tolerance in Chile Peppers (Capsicum spp.) of southern Mexico [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1546519028733692

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Bernau, Vivian. Exploring Local Adaptation and Drought Tolerance in Chile Peppers (Capsicum spp.) of southern Mexico. 2019. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1546519028733692.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Bernau, Vivian. "Exploring Local Adaptation and Drought Tolerance in Chile Peppers (Capsicum spp.) of southern Mexico." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1546519028733692

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1546519028733692
316
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.