Ecological Database of Monocot Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) of Iran: Key Genetic Reservoirs to Improve the Crops

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Medicinal Plants, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Arak University, Arak 38156-8-8349, Iran

2 Department of Plant Sciences and Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Biotechnology Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Department of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management, Environmental Sciences Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.

4 Department of Plant Sciences, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

10.22091/ethc.2025.11941.1045

Abstract

Objective: Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) are critically important for strengthening food security due to their inherent resilience and genetic richness, serving as a valuable backup. However, these vital species face serious risks from habitat destruction, overgrazing, and climate change. The objective of this study is to introduce the most important monocot wild relatives in Iran. This aims to not only showcase the rich capacity of the country’s habitats for improving crop, forage, and ornamental products but also to establish a strong database for the conservation of this valuable biodiversity.
Methods: This study aimed to document monocot CWRs in Iran by compiling data from various national and international sources. We used ArcGIS software to map the distribution of these species.
Results: Our research identified 331 monocot species as wild relatives within Iran. The Poaceae (117 species) and Amaryllidaceae (72 species) families exhibited the highest concentration of wild relatives.
Of these, 18 species are used as food and 68 as forage. Additionally, 158 species have ornamental, medicinal, industrial, or soil protection value.
Conclusion: This research presents a foundational inventory of monocot wild relatives, specifically focusing on Iranian crops. The findings provide valuable insights into these wild relatives that can be utilized in the enhancement of food products, forage crops, and ornamental plants. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the urgency of prioritizing conservation strategies.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Alaei Taleghani, M. (2002). Geomorphology of Iran. Ghoomes Publication. (in Persian)
Akhavan Roofigari, A., Bagheri, A., Jamzad, Z., &  Jalili, A. (2019). The conservation status of two Allium (Amaryllidaceae) species in Iran. Journal of Iran Nature, 4(1), 101-105. (in Persian)
Allen, E., Gaisberger, H., Brehm, J. M., Maxted, N., Thormann, I., Lupupa, T., Dulloo, M. E., & Kell, S. P. (2019). A crop wild relative inventory for Southern Africa: a first step in linking conservation and use of valuable wild populations for enhancing food security. Plant Genetic Resources, 17(2), 128-139.
Assadi, M. (1984-2018). Flora of Iran. Tehran: Research institute of forest and rangelands. (in Persian)
Bakhshi, B., Aghaei, M. J., Zarifi, E., Bihamta, M. R., Fard, E. M. (2019). Distribution and characterization of Aegilops cylindrica species from Iran. bioRxiv, 525964.‏
Barthlott, W., Biedinger, N., Braun, G., Feig, F., Kier, G., & Mutke, J. (1999) Terminological and methodological aspects of the mapping and analysis of global biodiversity. Acta Botanica Fennica, 162, 103-110.
Bernstein, L., Bosch, P., Canziani, O., Chen, Z., Christ, R., & Riahi, K. (2008). IPCC, 2007: Climate Change 2007, synthesis report.
Bor, N. L. (1970). Flora Iranica (Vol. 70); Flora of the Iranian highlands and surrounding mountains. Persia, Afghanistan, part of West Pakistan, North Iraq, Azerbaidzhan, Turkmenistan. Gramineae.
Botschantzeva, Z. (1982). Tulips: Taxonomy, Morphology, Cytology, Phytogeogr. CRC Press.‏
Carpenter, K. E. (1989). FAO species catalogue (Vol. 9).
Castañeda-Álvarez, N. P., Khoury, C. K., Achicanoy, H. A., Bernau, V., Dempewolf, H., Eastwood, R. J., Guarino, L., Harker, R. H., Jarvis, A., Maxted, N., Mueller, J. V., Ramírez-Villegas, J., Sosa C. C., Struik, P. C., Vincent, H., & Toll, J. (2016). Global conservation priorities for crop wild relatives. Nature Plants, 2(4), 16022. 
Darvichzade, A. (2002). Geology of Iran. Amirkabir Publication. (in Persian)
Davis, S. D., Heywood, V. H., & Hamilton, A. C. (1994). Centers of Plant Diversity. A guide and strategy for their conservation. (Vol. 1.) Europe, Africa, South West Asia and the Middle East.
Djamali, M., Akhani, H., Khoshravesh, R., Andrieu-Ponel, V., Ponel, P., & Brewer, S. (2011). Application of the global bioclimatic classification to Iran: implications for understanding the modern vegetation and biogeography. Ecologia Mediterranea, 37(1), 91-114.
FAO (2008). The state of food and agriculture 2008: Biofuels: Prospects, risks and opportunities (Vol. 38). Food & Agriculture Org.
FAO (2012). FAO Integrated Food Security Support Service. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
Fazeli, A. (2014). Identification of phylogenetic relationship among wheat and its ancestor based on sequencing of HKT gene. Journal of Plant Production Research, 21(3), 153-169.‏ (in Persian)
Frey, W., & Probst, W. (1986). A synopsis of the vegetation of Iran. In Contributions of the vegetation of southwest Asia (pp. 9-43). Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag.
Fritsch, R. M. (2016). A preliminary review of Allium subg. Melanocrommyum in Central Asia. Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung Gatersleben (IPK), Gatersleben.
Ghahremaninejad, F., & Nejad Falatoury, A. (2016). An update on the flora of Iran: Iranian angiosperm orders and families in accordance with APG IV. Nova Biologica Reperta, 3(1), 80-107.
Greene, S. L., Williams, K. A., Khoury, C. K., Kantar, M. B., & Marek, L. F. (2018). North American Crop Wild Relatives (Vol. 2). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Guarino, L., & Lobell, D. B. (2011). A walk on the wild side. Nature Climate Change, 1(8), 374-375.
Harlan, J. R., & De Wet, J. M. (1971). Toward a rational classification of cultivated plants. Taxon, 20(4), 509-517.
Hedge, I. C., & Wendelbo, P. (1978). Patterns of distribution and endemism in Iran. Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 36(2), 441-464.
Heywood, V., Casas, A., Ford-Lloyd, B., Kell, S., & Maxted, N. (2007). Conservation and sustainable use of crop wild relatives. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 121(3), 245-255.‏
Heywood, V. H., & Dulloo, M. E. (2005). In situ conservation of wild plant species a critical global review of good practices. IPGRI Technical Bulletin n. 11 174 p. ISBN: 978-92-9043-698-0
Heywood, V. H., & Zohary, D. (1995). A catalogue of the wild relatives of cultivated plants native to Europe. Flora Mediterranea, 5, 375-415.
Hosseini, M., Ghorbanli, M., Sabouri, H., Dadras, A., Sattarian, A., & Fallahi, H. A. (2016). Investigatingthe genetic diversity in some of cultivated and wild barely genotypes using AFLP molecular markers. Cereal Research, 6(4), 533-544. ‏(in Persian)
Hosseini, N., Mehrabian, A., & Mostafavi, H. (2022). Modeling climate change effects on spatial distribution of wild Aegilops L. (Poaceae) toward food security management and biodiversity conservation in Iran. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 18(3), 697-708.‏
Hosseini, N., Mehrabian, A., & Mostafavi, H. (2021). The distribution patterns and priorities for conservation of monocots Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) of Iran. Journal of Wildlife and Biodiversity, 5(2), 28-43.‏
Li, Q.-Q., Zhou, S.-D., He, X.-J., Yu, Y., Zhang, Y.-C., & Wei, X.-Q. (2010). Phylogeny and biogeography of Allium (Amaryllidaceae: Allieae) based on nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer and chloroplast rps16 sequences, focusing on the inclusion of species endemic to China. Annals of Botany, 106(5), 709-733.
Lobell, D. B., & Gourdji, S. M. (2012). The influence of climate change on global crop productivity. Plant Physiology, 160, 1686-1697.
Wendelbo, P., & Mathew, B. (1975). Flora Iranica. No. 112, Iridaceae. Graz: Akademische Druck und Verlagsanstalt.
Maxted, N., & Kell, S. P. (2009). Establishment of a global network for the in situ conservation of crop wild relatives: status and needs. FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Rome, Italy, 266.
Maxted, N., Ford-Lloyd, B. V., & Kell, S. P. (2008a). Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use (pp. 3-30). CABI Publishing, Wallingford.
Maxted, N., Dulloo, E., Ford, V., Lloyd, B., Iriondo, J. M., & Jarvis, A. (2008b). Gap analysis: a tool for complementary genetic conservation assessment. Diversity and Distributions, 14(6), 1018-1030.
Mehrabian, A. R., Amini Rad, M., & Pahlevani, A. H. (2015). The map of  distribution patterns of  Iranian Endemic Monocotyledons. Tehran: Shahid Beheshti University.
Meilleur Brien, A., & Hodgkin, T. (2004). In situ conservation of crop wild relatives: Status and trends. Biodiversity and Conservation, 13(4), 663-668.
Mohebi, J., Jamzad, Z., & Bakhshi-Khaniki, G. R. (2016). The conservation status of six endemic Satureja species in Iran. Jurnal of Iran Nature, 1(1), 74-79.
Mozaffarian, V. (2005). Trees and shrubs of Iran. Farhang Moaser Publicatuion. (in Persian)
Noroozi, J., Talebi, A., Doostmohammadi, M., Manafzadeh, S., Asgarpour, Z., & Schneeweiss, G. M. (2019). Endemic diversity and distribution of the Iranian vascular flora across phytogeographical regions, biodiversity hotspots and areas of endemism. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 1-12.‏
Ranjbar, M., Naghavi, M., Zali, A., Aghaei, M., & Zarifi, A. (2010). Study of high wheat citotype Aegilops crassa from Iran and the distinguishing traits of their polymorphism, Iranian Journal of Crop, 41, 225-234.
Rechinger, K. H. (1990). Muscari in KH Rechinger Flora Iranica, 165, 140-149.
Rodriguez, S., Maestra, B., Perera, E., Diez, M., & Naranjo, T. (2000). Pairing affinities of the B-and G-genome chromosomes of polyploid wheats with those of Aegilops speltoides. Genome, 43(5), 814-819.
Schmidhuber, J., & Tubiello, F. N. (2007). Global food security under climate change. PNAS, 104(50), 19703-19708.
Sheasby, P. (2007). Bulbous plants of Turkey and Iran (including the adjacent Greek Islands). Alpine Garden Society.
Sheidai, M., Tabasi, M., Mehrabian, M. R., Koohdar, F., Ghasemzadeh-Baraki, S., & Noormohammadi, Z. (2018). Species delimitation and relationship in Crocus L. (Iridaceae). Acta Botanica Croatica, 77(1), 10-17.
Tabasi, M., & Mehrabian, A. R. (2008). The palynological studies of Crocus L. (Iridaceae) with emphasis on taxonomy in Iran. Plant Reseraches, 31(4), 1-11. (in Persian)
Takhtajan, A., Crovello, T. J., & Cronquist, A. (1986). Floristic regions of the world (Vol. 544). Berkeley: University of California Press.
Tas, N., West, G., Kircalioglu, G., Topaloglu, S. B., Phillips, J., Kell, S., & Maxted, N. (2019). Conservation gap analysis of crop wild relatives in Turkey. Plant Genetic Resources, 17(2), 164-173.
Valdes, A. M., & Thomson, G. (1997). Detecting disease-predisposing variants: the haplotype method.  American Journal of Human Genetics, 60(3), 703.
Vavilov, N. I. (1926). Centers of origin of cultivated plants. Works of Applied Botany and Plant Breeding, 16(2), 1-248.
Vincent, H., Wiersema, J., Kell, S., Fielder, H., Dobbie, S., Castañeda-Álvarez, N. P., Guarino, L., Eastwood, R., Leόn, B., & Maxted, N. (2013). A prioritized crop wild relative inventory to help underpin global food security. Biological Conservation, 167, 265-275.
Zohary, M. (1973). Geobotanical foundations of the Middle East. Stuttgart, Gustav Fischer.
Zohary, D., & Hopf, M. (1993). Domestication of plants in the Old World. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
 

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics