On the Hunt for Taiwan's Wild Mungbean
Conference Year
January 2019
Abstract
The mungbean is a foundational crop in Asian agriculture; however, the potential of mungbean to continue providing reliable yields to Asian farmers is contingent on the crop’s ability to withstand increasing stresses of pests, diseases, and drought. The wild mungbean (V. radiata var. sublobata), the species from which the crop was originally domesticated, is hypothesized to harbor genes associated with resistance, since it is adapted to harsher environments. As genetic reservoirs, wild mungbean populations are incredibly valuable for their potential to benefit mungbean breeding programs, but there is currently a lack of information regarding their distribution, genetic diversity, and conservation status. My research focuses on assessing these factors for wild mungbean in Taiwan. Although historical herbarium records document the presence of wild mungbean in Taiwan, exact distributions of these populations are unknown, and their genetic diversity has never been assessed. Recognizing these unknowns, the overarching goal of my research is to utilize a bioclimatic model to inform a series of field expeditions to find and study Taiwan’s wild mungbean populations. From identified populations, I intend to collect seeds and genetic material in order to assess their genetic diversity and to begin establishing an ex situ conservation collection.
Primary Faculty Mentor Name
Eric Bishop-von Wettberg
Faculty/Staff Collaborators
Maarten van Zonneveld (World Vegetable Center), Cheng-Ruei Lee (National Taiwan University), Chau-Ti Ting (National Taiwan University)
Status
Graduate
Student College
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Program/Major
Plant and Soil Science
Primary Research Category
Biological Sciences
On the Hunt for Taiwan's Wild Mungbean
The mungbean is a foundational crop in Asian agriculture; however, the potential of mungbean to continue providing reliable yields to Asian farmers is contingent on the crop’s ability to withstand increasing stresses of pests, diseases, and drought. The wild mungbean (V. radiata var. sublobata), the species from which the crop was originally domesticated, is hypothesized to harbor genes associated with resistance, since it is adapted to harsher environments. As genetic reservoirs, wild mungbean populations are incredibly valuable for their potential to benefit mungbean breeding programs, but there is currently a lack of information regarding their distribution, genetic diversity, and conservation status. My research focuses on assessing these factors for wild mungbean in Taiwan. Although historical herbarium records document the presence of wild mungbean in Taiwan, exact distributions of these populations are unknown, and their genetic diversity has never been assessed. Recognizing these unknowns, the overarching goal of my research is to utilize a bioclimatic model to inform a series of field expeditions to find and study Taiwan’s wild mungbean populations. From identified populations, I intend to collect seeds and genetic material in order to assess their genetic diversity and to begin establishing an ex situ conservation collection.