Download Improving food security in Africa: taxonomy, genetics

2017_71: Improving food security in Africa:
taxonomy, genetics and ecology of finger-grasses
Supervisors: Dr Maria Vorontsova ([email protected]), Dr Tiziana Ulian,
Professor Vincent Savolainen, and a supervisor at Institut d'Economie Rurale in Mali
Department: Royal Botanical Gardens Kew, Imperial College, Institut d'Economie
Rurale Mali
Modern African agriculture is precariously reliant on crops introduced by European
settlers. These foreign and genetically uniform food and forage plants are susceptible
to disease and require more water than is frequently available. They are failing to
support the continent’s growing population. Yet the agricultural industry has forgotten
plants native to Africa: unfamiliar to food and pasture production industries yet evolved
under drought, locally diverse, and with potential which is largely untapped due to the
lack of a basic botanical knowledge base.
The finger-grasses (Poaceae genus Digitaria) are a significant global knowledge gap,
a group of 277 grasses with superficially similar finger-like inflorescences and tiny
flowering parts, with differences important for identification not visible without a
powerful microscope. They are commonly missed by field surveys; there has been no
attempt at a taxonomic treatment since 1950; and their evolutionary relationships are
unknown. Multiple levels of polyploidy have been recorded, nuclear gene histories are
complex, and finger-grasses may not even be a single evolutionary lineage. Yet across
Africa Digitaria produces abundant juicy leaves loved by all cattle and Pangola grass
(Digitaria eriantha) is cultivated for pasture. African Digitaria includes the mysterious
fonio: world’s only known crop which is a mixture of two genetically different species:
Digitaria exilis and Digitaria iburua. Other species have become vigorous weeds of
global importance.
This project will investigate the evolutionary history and environmental niches of
Digitaria in Africa in order to propose the most optimal future forage and food
exploitation for resilience against land use change associated with population
increase, drought and climate change. All species of African Digitaria already known
for commercial uses will be investigated genetically and experimentally to establish
their distribution, abundance, phenology, and yields. Herbarium specimens at Kew will
For more information on how to apply visit us at www.imperial.ac.uk/changingplanet
Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet
be studied to determine species boundaries through morphological taxonomy.
Phylogenetic reconstructions will be made through NGS sequence data in order to
identify species with best potential for feeding animals and people. Niche modelling
will explore areas Digitaria can be useful under different climate change scenarios.
The student will be hosted at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Institut d'Economie Rurale
in Mali, and Imperial College's international centre of excellence in ecology and
evolution (https://www.imperial.ac.uk/visit/campuses/silwood-park), under its Grand
Challenges
in
Ecosystems
and
the
Environment
Initiative
(http://www.imperial.ac.uk/ecosystems-and-environment).
For more information on how to apply visit us at www.imperial.ac.uk/changingplanet