Development of Genomic Resources for the Water Yam (Dioscorea alata L.) for Accelerated Breeding and Improvement

D. alata is an important food security and income generation crop for millions of smallholder farmers in the tropics and sub-tropics of West Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Pacific. Water yam boasts desirable characteristics such as high nutritional content, yield under low soil fertility, and low post-harvest losses. However, production is constrained by biotic and abiotic stresses, and breeding for desired traits is arduous. In the context of surging population growth and climate change, modern genomic and genetic tools are urgently needed for the more efficient improvement of D. alata.

Toward this end, we are constructing a high-quality chromosome-scale reference genome for D. alata, which we will annotate using RNAseq data generated in collaboration with the African Orphan Crops Consortium. Genetic maps constructed from D. alata mapcrosses segregating for important traits will facilitate further genome assembly improvement as well as QTL analysis. We will also characterize global water yam diversity.

This work is in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA; Ibadan, Nigeria), the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI; Umudike, Nigeria), and the African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC).