Abstract Landraces of maize ( Zea mays L.) have a variability not found in the elite hybrids due to bottleneck during selection. There is renewed interest using that variability, incorporating alleles for specific traits, or widening general germplasm. In Europe, there also an direct use local landraces by farmer’s associations seeking agriculture preserves crop diversity. Pre-breeding programs...

Pea powdery mildew, caused by Erysiphe pisi D.C., is an important disease worldwide. Deployment of resistant varieties is the main way to control this disease. This study aimed to screen Chinese pea (Pisum sativum L.) landraces resistant to E. pisi, and to characterize the resistance gene(s) at the er1 locus in the resistant landraces, and to develop functional marker(s) specific to the novel e...

Rice landraces are lineages developed by farmers through artificial selection during the long-term domestication process. Despite huge potential for crop improvement, they are largely understudied in India. Here, we analyse a suite of phenotypic characters from large numbers of Indian landraces comprised of both aromatic and non-aromatic varieties. Our primary aim was to investigate the major d...

Archaeological maize specimens from Andean sites of southern South America, dating from 400 to 1400 years before present, were tested for the presence of ancient DNA and three microsatellite loci were typed in the specimens that gave positive results. Genotypes were also obtained for 146 individuals corresponding to modern landraces currently cultivated in the same areas and for 21 plants from ...