Development of Aneuploid and Doubled Haploid Genetic Stocks in Cultivated Allium Species and Their Application to Omics Approach

Allium cepa (bulb onion, shallot) and A. fistulosum (Japanese bunching onion; JBO) are widely cultivated species of the genus Allium, containing chemical compounds with potential anti-inflammatory, anticholesterol, anticancer and antioxidant properties. Allium roylei native from northern-west India is known as the bridging species of these two cultivated species. The triangle of species is now providing attractive breeding materials to invest a good deal of time and effort toward cultivar improvement. A complete set of JBO – A. cepa monosomic addition lines has been used for obtaining genomic information in bulb onion and for improving JBO cultivars. Such attempts as this combination have been done in A. cepa - JBO, A. cepa - A. roylei and JBO - A. roylei. On the other hand, a gynogenic mapping population was successfully produced from F₁ plants between shallot and bulb onion doubled haploid (DH) lines, and could be used for constructing the linkage map of A. cepa. An advanced omics approaches including ‘S-omics’ technology will be used to characterize variation in the genetic stocks mentioned above. This will develop capability and plant materials to support metabolomics-informed biomedical studies of whole plants or extracts, as well as enabling detection of associations between phytochemical content, gene expression and specific genome regions. The knowledge and technologies will be applicable for targeting breeding, production and processing towards enhanced functionality.