Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a vital crop with production demand increasing due to population growth. However, bread wheat is facing challenges, including the emergence of pests and diseases, reduced genetic diversity and climate change. To meet food security, pre-breeding can help to develop varieties by incorporating desirable traits from wild relatives and landraces. Although pre-breeding is crucial, it does not often take full advantage of recent genotyping technologies. The DArTag mid-density wheat panel, developed by CIMMYT as part of the CGIAR initiative, offers a low-cost genotyping solution, but its applicability in pre-breeding programs has not been widely evaluated. This study aims to assess population structure, genetic diversity and genomic selection in a set of 484 pre-breeding bread wheat lines derived from crosses with wild relatives, using the DArTag mid-density wheat panel to investigate the ability of this genotyping approach to validate pedigrees, identify specific trait subsets and detect potential introgressions for targeted selection. Our results demonstrate that the panel captured genetic diversity in the pre-breeding population, identifying seven subpopulations with different genetic compositions; analysis confirmed the existence of private alleles associated with important agronomic traits, highlighting the role of wild relatives, especially Aegilops bicornis and Aegilops ovata, in genetic variation. In addition, the genotyping also facilitates pedigree validation and generates trait-specific sub-populations for phenotyping. The sub-populations and markers found in this work are useful resources that can be effectively used to accelerate wheat improvement, offering new insights into the contribution of wild relatives and landraces to wheat diversity.

Karacadağ rice is a local variety with significant genetic diversity, cultivated for centuries in the Karacadağ basin of South-eastern Anatolia (Türkiye) using traditional methods. The production system relies on basalt stone fields, minimal tillage, no chemical inputs, and irrigation with melted snow waters directed through natural channels. Harvesting is conducted manually using sickles. This rice variety has adapted to the region’s hot and arid climate, demonstrating resilience to pests, diseases, and environmental stresses. Key features of the Karacadağ Rice Production System include its harmony with natural flora, crop rotation practices, contribution to biodiversity, and alignment with the socio-cultural fabric of the region. The Karacadağ steppes are ecologically significant, hosting wild relatives of cultivated crops, including wheat, and supporting rich biodiversity. Additionally, the region’s cultural richness is enhanced by nomadic communities engaged in pastoralism. Preserving this production system contributes to maintaining agricultural biodiversity, protecting the natural environment, and safeguarding the socio-cultural heritage of the area. This study was conducted within the framework of the Management Plan for the Karacadağ Steppes, a pilot area of the ‘Conservation and Sustainable Management of Steppe Ecosystems in Turkey’ project (2017–2021) to support the sustainable conservation and management of the Karacadağ Rice Production System. Using the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) framework, the system was evaluated against five key criteria, major pressures and changing trends were identified, and inputs were provided for a management plan aimed at enhancing its resilience and sustainability under ongoing socio-economic and environmental change.

Drought is a critical issue for global agriculture making the development of drought-resilient crop varieties crucial. Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench is a highly drought tolerant cereal crop with the potential to serve as a model for identifying drought-tolerant genes. Investigating drought-induced gene expression changes in S. bicolor can inform breeding strategies aimed at enhancing resilience in other crops in the Poaceae family. Our aim was to identify the genes and networks that are differentially expressed in drought stressed sorghum across multiple tissue types, not just leaves. Previously, we reported differences in phenotype in terms of biomass, photosynthetic traits and the concentration of specialized metabolites (dhurrin and phenolics) between well-watered and water-limited plants. Here, differential gene expression analysis was conducted for drought-stressed S. bicolor variety BTx623 using edgeR. Gene ontology enrichment analysis and Weighted Gene Correlation Network Analysis (WGCNA) were conducted to identify the over-represented functions of the differentially expressed genes and to identify clusters of genes that behave together as a response to drought, respectively. Gene expression changes were largely confined to the root (56 genes were found to be differentially expressed), with little differential expression in the leaves or sheaths and no significant differences in expression of key dhurrin pathway genes. Together, these results indicate that drought tolerance in the cultivated sorghum reference genotype BTx623 is associated primarily with root-specific transcriptional responses and provide a tissue-resolved baseline for future comparative analyses across sorghum genotypes and wild relatives differing in drought sensitivity and HCN potential.

In Australia, Sorghum bicolor is frequently produced under dryland cropping systems, making these crops particularly susceptible to stress. Sorghum also contains the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin, a toxic metabolite which is a major concern where sorghum is grown as livestock forage. The wild Australian relatives of S. bicolor, including species within the Chaetosorghum and Stiposorghum subgenera, contain minimal concentrations of dhurrin compared to domesticated sorghum. As the core biosynthetic enzymes are conserved, they provide a valuable comparative system to explore differences in the regulation of dhurrin biosynthesis. This study examined the transcriptional and metabolic response of Sorghum macrospermum to nitrogen resupply following nitrogen-limiting growth. Over a 48-hour time-course, changes in nitrate and dhurrin accumulation, and expression of key genes involved in nitrogen metabolism, dhurrin biosynthesis, and candidate transcriptional regulators were measured. In S. macrospermum, dhurrin accumulation and upregulation of the biosynthetic gene SmCYP79A1 occurred in root tissues from 12 to 48 hours post-resupply. Very low dhurrin levels and negligible SmCYP79A1 expression were observed in leaves and stems. Notably, nitrate levels remained stable over time, suggesting distinct nitrogen management strategies. Candidate regulators previously implicated in dhurrin biosynthesis in S. bicolor were not detected in the roots of S. macrospermum, indicating that different regulatory mechanisms drive the root-specific response. These findings highlight the evolutionary divergence in nitrogen and dhurrin regulation between domesticated and wild sorghum species. They further highlight S. macrospermum as a potential genetic resource for developing low-cyanide and nitrogen-use efficient sorghum with improved resilience to suit dryland cropping systems.

Crop wild relatives (CWRs) constitute a genetic resource for plant breeding, food security and sustainable agriculture, especially in the context of climate change and an increasing global population. As part of the ‘Conservation and Sustainable Management of Turkey’s Steppe Ecosystems’ project, a multi-species action plan (MSAP) was developed for the Karacadağ Steppe, a representative dryland grassland ecosystem in Southeastern Türkiye. This participatory, landscape-scale plan is intended for a dryland ecosystem that is home to numerous wild grass and legume species. The MSAP targets six key CWR taxa. Field-based ecological assessments and stakeholder consultations identified three core conservation zones – oak forest glades, honey forest glades and valleys – where overlapping species and shared threats enable integrated habitat protection. The plan addresses urgent challenges typical of dryland grassland systems, including early-season overgrazing and climate-driven drought, by proposing adaptive, community-led strategies for the long-term in situ conservation. This model demonstrates the feasibility and value of multi-species approaches to dryland biodiversity conservation, offering actionable insights for regional and global CWR protection frameworks. Furthermore, these findings emphasize the importance of inclusive, evidence-based planning for in situ conservation and present a replicable model for other dryland regions.

Dryland agriculture faces escalating constraints from water deficit, heat stress and soil salinity, necessitating the harnessing of adaptive diversity beyond modern wheat cultivars. Wild wheat relatives (WWRs) within the Triticeae harbour key dryland-adaptive traits, including deep, plastic root systems, osmotic adjustment, Na+/K+ homeostasis and heat-responsive photosynthesis, all of which are critical for maintaining yield stability under water-limited conditions. This review synthesizes recent advances in pangenomics, genome-wide association studies, speed introgression (genome-scale introgression under speed breeding) and genome editing, which enable more precise mining and deployment of WWR alleles while reducing linkage drag and improving selection efficiency. Importantly, we integrate biological constraints with conservation and policy considerations, highlighting how fragmented ex situ representation, limited phenotyping capacity in dryland regions, and complex access-and-benefit-sharing frameworks under the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Nagoya Protocol, and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture constrain the practical utilization of WWR diversity. By identifying underexplored WWR and allied taxa (e.g., Aegilops searsii and Elymus spp.), priority trait categories, and target dryland agroecosystems, this review provides a unified conservation-to-breeding framework that advances beyond previous syntheses and repositions WWR from genetic reservoirs to deployable resources for climate-resilient wheat improvement.