Rodomiro Ortiz

• PhD
• Chair at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Association analysis is used to measure relations between markers and quantitative trait loci (QTL). Their estimation ignores genes with small effects that trigger underpinning quantitative traits. By contrast, genome-wide selection estimates marker effects across the whole genome on the target population based on a prediction model developed in th...

The annual harvest of banana and plantain (Musa spp.) is approximately 145 millions tons worldwide. About 85% of this global production comes from small plots and kitchen or backyard gardens from the developing world, and only 15% goes to the export trade. Musa acuminata and M. balbisiana are the ancestors of several hundreds of parthenocarpic Musa...

Climate change could strongly affect the wheat crop that accounts for 21% of food and 200 million hectares of farmland worldwide. This article reviews some of the approaches for addressing the expected effects that climate change may likely inflict on wheat in some of the most important wheat growing areas, namely germplasm adaptation, system manag...

Background Emeritus Campbell-Bascom Professor Stanley J. Peloquin was an internationally renowned plant geneticist and breeder who made exceptional contributions to the quantity, quality and sustainable supply of food for the world from his innovative and extensive scientific contributions. For five decades, Dr Peloquin merged basic research in pla...

Linkage disequilibrium can be used for identifying associations between traits of interest and genetic markers. This study used mapped diversity array technology (DArT) markers to find associations with resistance to stem rust, leaf rust, yellow rust, and powdery mildew, plus grain yield in five historical wheat international multienvironment trial...

Peruvian maize exhibits abundant morphological diversity, with landraces cultivated from sea level (sl) up to 3,500 m above sl. Previous research based on morphological descriptors, defined at least 52 Peruvian maize races, but its genetic diversity and population structure remains largely unknown. Here, we used genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) to ob...

Potato is one of the three most important foods in the world’s diet and is staple in the Peruvian highlands. This crop is affected by late blight, a disease that if not controlled in time can decimate production. The oomycete (Phytophthora infestans) causing this disease is controlled using fungicides, which affect the environment and human health,...

The challenges faced by today’s agronomists, plant breeders, and their managers encompass adapting sustainably to climate variability while working with limited budgets. Besides, managers are dealing with a multitude of issues with different organizations working on similar initiatives and projects, leading to a lack of a sustainable impact on smal...

The challenges faced by today's agronomists, plant breeders, and their managers encompass adapting sustainably to climate variability while working with limited budgets. Besides, managers are dealing with a multitude of issues with different organizations working on similar initiatives and projects, leading to a lack of a sustainable impact on smal...

With growing evidence that genomic selection (GS) improves genetic gains in plant breeding, it is timely to review the key factors that improve its efficiency. In this feature review, we focus on the statistical machine learning (ML) methods and software that are democratizing GS methodology. We outline the principles of genomic-enabled prediction...

Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) play a vital role as a global oilseed crop, but biotic and abiotic factors threaten their yield, especially in the context of climate change. One significant challenge is charcoal rot, a disease prevalent in tropical and subtropical climates. This disease causes stem lesions, leading to wilting and premature lodging,...

Introduction Noug (Guizotia abyssinica) is an economically important edible oilseed crop in Ethiopia with a large variation in seed set, seed oil content, and fatty acid composition among populations. Although noug is generally strictly self-incompatible (SI), self-compatible (SC) lines were recently developed. This study was conducted to investiga...

Introduction Rice is a vital staple food for many countries, and its yield is known to be significantly affected by various abiotic stresses, which are expected to intensify with climate change, posing a threat to global food security. Abscisic acid (ABA), a crucial plant growth regulator, plays a crucial role in plant responses to these abiotic st...

Statistical machine learning (ML) extracts patterns from extensive genomic, phe-notypic, and environmental data. ML algorithms automatically identify relevant features and use cross-validation to ensure robust models and improve prediction reliability in new lines. Furthermore, ML analyses of genotype-by-environment (G×E) interactions can offer ins...

Red clover (Trifolium pratense) is a perennial forage legume wildly used in temperate regions, including northern Europe. Its breeders are under increasing pressure to obtain rapid genetic gains to meet the high demand for improved forage yield and quality. One solution to increase genetic gain by reducing time and increasing accuracy is genomic se...

In recent years, the plant pathogen Phytophthora plurivora has caused severe damage to beech forests in many European countries, including Sweden. In many affected areas, few protective measures are in place due to fears about potential negative impacts on the ecosystem or public health. The research presented in this article assesses the biocontro...

Maize represents one of the most important staple crops in the Peruvian highlands. The abundant morphological diversity found in Peruvian maize from the highlands was classified by a previous published work into six groups: (i) primitive races—PRs, (ii) anciently derived or primary races—ADPRs, (iii) lately derived or secondary races—LDSRs, (iv) in...

Native potatoes (Solanaceae) are an important Andean crop due to their excellent culinary quality, good flavor, and floury texture. They also contain vitamins, protein, minerals, and carbohydrates. In Peru, it is possible to observe an abundant morphological diversity of native potatoes grown in the Andean region. Native potatoes are cultivated and...

Aim Soil acidity has a major impact on the finger millet yield and productivity as tolerant cultivars that perform well in acidic soils are limited. This study aimed at evaluating major finger millet phenotypic traits under acidic soils followed by identifying associated markers. Method A total of 288 finger millet genotypes were field evaluated f...

Sesame seeds and their edible oil are highly nutritious and rich in mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Bioactive compounds such as sterols, tocopherols, and sesamol provide significant medicinal benefits. The high oil content (50%) and favorable mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acid balance, as well as resilience to water stress, make sesame a p...

The aim of potato breeding is to release cultivars that exhibit high and stable performance across the target population of environments. The objective of this research was therefore to investigate the use of various methods (site regression [SREG], coefficient of variation and regression deviation [σ²δ]) for determining the adaptability and stabil...

La producción de café enfrenta desafíos significativos debido a los efectos del cambio climático, según los informes del Panel Intergubernamental sobre Cambio Climático (IPCC). Se estima que el cambio climático podría disminuir los rendimientos globales de café y reducir aún más las áreas adecuadas para su cultivo para el año 2050. Ahora bien, la v...

Confectionary sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) has gained popularity due to its utilization in roasting as snacks, poultry, bird food, and bakery products. However, seed quality of confectionary sunflower differs from non-oil seed types. In the present study, 71 sunflower accessions were selected for the evaluation of seed quality traits. Significa...

Sesame seeds and their edible oil are highly nutritious and rich in mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Bioactive compounds such as sterols, tocopherols, and sesamol provide significant medicinal benefits. The high oil content (50%) and favorable mono-and polyunsaturated fatty acids balance, as well as sesame's resilience to water stress makes,...

Bananas (Musa spp.) are one of the most highly consumed fruits globally, grown in the tropical and sub‐tropical regions. We evaluated 856 Musa accessions from the breeding programs of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture of Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda; the National Agricultural Research Organization of Uganda; the Brazilian Agricul...

Biostimulants play a crucial role in enhancing crop yields while promoting sustainability and environmental responsibility. Evaluating the efficacy of biostimulants on‐farm requires rigorous, multiyear trials conducted across various locations and with different cultivars. This study was conducted in Uruguay from 2015 to 2023 to assess the impact o...

Tocopherol and sterol are non-dietary functional molecules in sunflower oil, which act as antioxidants, reduce cholesterol and improve immunity against diseases. The present study was designed to determine tocopherol and sterol contents in 13 high and two low oleic acid sunflower hybrids across two seasons (spring and autumn) and four locations und...

Aim Finger millet is a nutritionally rich crop cultivated in the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia. Soil acidity has a major impact on the crop’s yield and productivity as tolerant cultivars that perform well in acidic soils are limited. This study aimed at evaluating major finger millet phenotypic traits under acidic soils followed by...

Epistasis refers to nonallelic interaction between genes that cause bias in estimates of genetic parameters for a phenotype with interactions of two or more genes affecting the same trait. Partitioning of epistatic effects allows true estimation of the genetic parameters affecting phenotypes. Multigenic variation plays a central role in the evoluti...

Genomic selection (GS) is a groundbreaking statistical machine learning method for advancing plant and animal breeding. Nonetheless, its practical implementation remains challenging due to numerous factors affecting its predictive performance. This research explores the potential of data augmentation to enhance prediction accuracy across entire dat...

Peruvian maize exhibits abundant morphological diversity, with landraces cultivated from sea level (sl) up to 3,500 m above sl. Previous research based on morphological descriptors, defined at least 52 Peruvian maize races, but its genetic diversity and population structure remains largely unknown. Here we used genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) to obt...

Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) are a key asset for agrobiodiversity, sustainable agriculture and food security overall. CRWs might contain genes for useful traits such as nutritional quality, resistance to pests and diseases, resource efficiency, and adaptability to extreme weather conditions. Their inherent genetic diversity together with the associat...

KEYWORDS climate change food and nutrition security, genebank, host plant resistance, resilience, resource use efficiency Editorial on the Research Topic Trends and perspectives for the use of crop wild relatives in crop breeding Crop wild relatives (CWRs) represent a fundamental cornerstone for enhancing agrobiodiversity, fostering sustainable agr...

The aim of potato breeding is to release cultivars showing high and stable performance across the target population of environments. The objective of this research was therefore to investigate the use of various methods (site-regression [SREG], coefficient of variation and the regression’s deviations [σ²δ]) for determining adaptability and stabilit...

Genomic selection, the application of genomic prediction (GP) models to select candidate individuals, has significantly advanced in the past two decades, effectively accelerating genetic gains in plant breeding. This article provides a holistic overview of the key factors that have influenced GP in plant breeding during this period. We delved into...

Challenges of climate change and growth population are exacerbated by noticeable environmental changes, which can increase the range of plant diseases, for instance, net blotch (NB), a foliar disease which significantly decreases barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) grain yield and quality. A resistant germplasm is usually identified through visual observat...

Background Plant-microbe interactions in two root compartments - the rhizosphere and endosphere - play vital roles in maintaining plant health and ecosystem dynamics. The microbial communities in these niches are shaped in complex ways by factors including the plant’s developmental stage and cultivar, and the compartment where the interactions occu...

Confectionary sunflower has gained popularity due to its utilization in roasting as snacks, poultry, bird food, and bakery products. However, seed quality of confectionary sunflower differs from non-oil seed types. In the present study, 71 sunflower accessions were selected for the evaluation of seed quality traits. Significant genetic variability...

Potato genetic improvement begins with crossing cultivars or breeding clones which often have complementary characteristics for producing heritable variation in segregating offspring, in which phenotypic selection is used thereafter across various vegetative generations (Ti). The aim of this research was to determine whether tetrasomic genomic best...

Main conclusion Molecular mechanisms of biological rhythms provide opportunities to harness functional allelic diversity in core (and trait- or stress-responsive) oscillator networks to develop more climate-resilient and productive germplasm. Abstract The circadian clock senses light and temperature in day–night cycles to drive biological rhythms....

The major abiotic factors that impact plant growth are heat, drought and salinity, which have distinct but overlapping effects on plant physiology but other abiotic factors (for example, anoxia and cold) are also of importance. In this Research Topic we explore some current advances in our understanding of how cereal crop plants can perceive, and h...

This chapter provides the state of the art on genomic prediction of estimated breeding values (GEBV) for selection (or genomic selection) as well as on the use of genetic engineering for both gene editing and transgenic breeding in main cereals crops. Genomic selection has been successfully used for breeding maize in drought-prone sites of Africa a...

The Swedish breeding program Svensk potatisförädling situated in Alnarp, Sweden, Scania, will launch a new potato cultivar. The clone is named 'SLU 1314015' and is yellow-skinned, light yellow-fleshed, high-yielding, table potato cultivar for the high latitude of Scandinavia, showing high partial resistance to Phytophthora infestans (causing late b...

The world's population is projected to rise from 7.7 billion to 9.7 billion in 2050, with sub-Saharan Africa contributing half of this increase. A growing population signifies an increase in the demand placed on our food and limited natural resources. With the food demand expected to increase by 50% in the next 40 years, there is the urgency to mak...

Please, find below the link to the publication, where it can be easily accessed/downloaded: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/9315/leeway-to-operate-with-plant-genetic-resources Thank you very much.

The global production of durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is hindered by a constant rise in the frequency of severe heat stress events. To identify heat‐tolerant germplasm, three different germplasm panels (“discovery,” “investigation,” and “validation”) were studied under a range of heat‐stressed conditions. Grain yield (GY) and its components w...

Tocopherol and sterol are non-dietary functional molecules in sunflower oil, which act as antioxidants, reduce cholesterol and improve immunity against diseases. The present study was designed to determine tocopherol and sterol contents in 13 high and two low oleic acid sunflower hybrids across two seasons (spring and autumn) and four locations und...

The genetic improvement of crops faces the significant challenge of feeding an ever-increasing population amidst a changing climate, and when governments are adopting a ‘more with less' approach to reduce input use. Plant breeding has the potential to contribute to the United Nations Agenda 2030 by addressing various sustainable development goals (...

The content and composition of the grain storage proteins in wheat determine to a high extent its end-use quality for pasta and bread production. This study aimed to evaluate the content and composition of the grain storage proteins in Ethiopian landraces and cultivars to contribute to future breeding toward improved pasta quality. Thus, 116 landra...

Alternative splicing (AS) is a gene regulatory mechanism modulating gene expression in multiple ways. AS is prevalent in all eukaryotes including plants. AS generates two or more mRNAs from the precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA) to regulate transcriptome complexity and proteome diversity. Advances in next-generation sequencing, omics technology, bioinformat...

Characterization of major resistance (R) genes to late blight (LB) –caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans– is very important for potato breeding. The objective of this study was to identify novel genes for resistance to LB from diploid Solanum tuberosum L. Andigenum Group (StAG) cultivar accessions. Using comparative analysis with a edgeR b...

Alternative splicing (AS) is a gene regulatory mechanism modulating gene expression in multiple ways. AS is prevalent in all eukaryotes including plants. AS generates two or more mRNAs from the precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA) to regulate transcriptome complexity and proteome diversity. Advances in next-generation sequencing, omics technology and bioinfor...

Svalöf is a yellow-skinned, light yellow-fleshed, high-yielding table potato cultivar for the high latitude of Scandinavia, showing partial resistance to Phytophthora infestans (causing late blight) and same specific gravity as the mealy cultivar King Edward, which is preferred in the fresh market by consumers in Sweden. It was selected as breeding...

Potato genetic improvement begins with crossing cultivars or breeding clones -often having complementary characteristics– for producing heritable variation in segregating offspring, in which phenotypic selection is used thereafter across various vegetative generations (T i ). Multi-environment, multi-trait, tetrasomic genomic best linear unbiased p...

Mutation breeding based on various chemical and physical mutagens induces and disrupts non-target loci. Hence, large populations were required for visual screening, but desired plants were rare and it was a further laborious task to identify desirable mutants. Generated mutant had high defect due to non-targeted mutation, with poor agronomic perfor...

Yanyang Liu, Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences (HNAAS), China; Landraces are an important genetic source for transferring valuable novel genes and alleles required to enhance genetic variation. Therefore, information on the gene pool’s genetic diversity and population structure is essential for the conservation and sustainable use of durum whe...

The use of biocontrol agents with plant growth-promoting activity has emerged as an approach to support sustainable agriculture. During our field evaluation of potato plants treated with biocontrol rhizobacteria, four bacteria were associated with increased plant height. Using two important solanaceous crop plants, tomato and potato, we carried out...

At the turn of 2000 many authors envisioned future plant breeding. Twenty years after, which of those authors’ visions became reality or not, and which ones may become so in the years to come. After two decades of debates, climate change is a “certainty,” food systems shifted from maximizing farm production to reducing environmental impact, and hop...

Inbreeding depression (ID) is caused by increased homozygosity in the offspring after selfing. Although the self-compatible, highly heterozygous, tetrasomic polyploid potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) suffers from ID, some argue that the potential genetic gains from using inbred lines in a sexual propagation system of potato are too large to be ignored...

Inbreeding depression (ID) is caused by increased homozygosity in the offspring after selfing. Although the self-compatible, highly heterozygous, tetrasomic polyploid potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) suffers from ID, some argue that the potential genetic gains from using inbred lines in a sexual propagation system of potato are too large to be ignored...

It is of paramount importance in plant breeding to have methods dealing with large numbers of predictor variables and few sample observations, as well as efficient methods for dealing with high correlation in predictors and measured traits. This paper explores in terms of prediction performance the partial least squares (PLS) method under single-tr...

It is of paramount importance in plant breeding to have methods dealing with large numbers of predictor variables and few sample observations, as well as efficient methods for dealing with high correlation in predictors and measured traits. This paper explores in terms of prediction performance the partial least squares (PLS) method under single-tr...

Underutilized pulses and their wild relatives are typically stress tolerant and their seeds are packed with protein, fibers, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals. The consumption of such nutritionally dense legumes together with cereal-based food may promote global food and nutritional security. However, such species are deficient in a few or sev...

Drought stress is a major production constraint in crops globally. Crop wild relatives are important sources of resistance and tolerance for both biotic and abiotic stresses, respectively. A breeding program was initiated to introgress drought tolerance in sunflowers through hybridization between the wild species Helianthus argophyllus and the cult...

Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn.) is an annual allotetraploid that belongs to the grass family Poaceae subfamily Chloridoideae. Using less productive cultivars, biotic and abiotic stresses affect the yield and productivity of finger millet in Ethiopia. This research was aimed at investigating the acidity/Al tolerance of 328 finger mill...

Ethiopia is considered a center of origin and diversity for durum wheat and is endowed with many diverse landraces. This research aimed to estimate the extent and pattern of genetic diversity in Ethiopian durum wheat germplasm. Thus, 104 durum wheat genotypes representing thirteen populations, three regions, and four altitudinal classes were invest...

Drought stress is a major production constraint in crops globally. Crop wild relatives are important source of resistance and tolerance for both biotic and abiotic stresses, respectively. A breeding program was initiated to introgress drought tolerance in sunflower through hybridization between the wild species Helianthus argophyllus and the cultig...

The development of a hybrid with high oleic acid is an important breeding goal for sunflower. High oleic acid sunflower has better cooking quality due to low oxidation and rancidity. Hence, inbred lines differing for oleic acid content were selected, alongside the development of hybrids where one or both parents exhibited high oleic acid content in...

Avocado is a healthy fruit and the consumption is continuously growing worldwide. The fruit contains polyphenolic compounds with antioxidant effects. Globally, research has been devoted to exploring the fruit quality, especially compounds with antioxidant effects, from different avocado-growing sites. However, the fruit quality of the Tanzanian avo...

Multi-environment trials (METs) of potato breeding clones and cultivars allow to precisely determine their performance across testing sites over years. However, these METs may be affected by the genotype × environment interaction (GEI) as noted in tuber yield. Furthermore, trials are replicated several times to optimize the predictive value of the...

Background An understanding of farmers’ preferences of new banana cultivars and their characteristics is critical for developing and selecting cultivars that meet consumer needs. Therefore, phenotypic selection in a genetically variable population remains an important aspect of plant breeding. Methods The participatory varietal selection approach...

Mutations with deleterious consequences in nature may be conditionally deleterious in crop plants. That is, while some genetic variants may reduce fitness under wild conditions and be subject to purifying selection, they can be under positive selection in domesticates. Such deleterious alleles can be plant breeding targets, particularly for complex...

Malnutrition results in enormous socio-economic costs to the individual, their community, and the nation’s economy. The evidence suggests an overall negative impact of climate change on the agricultural productivity and nutritional quality of food crops. Producing more food with better nutritional quality, which is feasible, should be prioritized i...

The growing global demand for wheat for food is rising due to the influence of population growth and climate change. The dissection of complex traits by employing a genome-wide association study (GWAS) allows the identification of DNA markers associated with complex traits to improve the productivity of crops. We used GWAS with 10,045 single nucleo...

The growing global demand for wheat for food is rising due to the influence of population growth and climate change. The dissection of complex traits by employing a genome-wide association study (GWAS) allows the identification of DNA markers associated with complex traits to improve the productivity of crops. We used GWAS with 10,045 single nucleo...

Background. Inbreeding depression (ID) is caused by an increased homozygosity in the offspring after selfing. Although the self-compatible, highly heterozygous, tetrasomic polyploid potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) suffers from ID, some argue that the potential genetic gains from using inbred lines in a sexual propagation system of potato are too larg...

Abiotic and biotic stresses negatively affect the growth and yield of crops worldwide. It is estimated that abiotic and biotic stresses account for global food crop losses of 50% and 30%, respectively. With the rapidly growing world population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, the issue of food security is becoming a global concern. Climate cha...

Abiotic and biotic stresses negatively affect the growth and yield of crops worldwide. It is estimated that abiotic and biotic stresses account for global food crop losses of 50% and 30%, respectively. With the rapidly growing world population expected to reach 10 billion by 2050, the issue of food security is becoming a global concern. Climate cha...