Pod dehiscence in hairy vetch (Vicia Villosa Roth)

Authors: Kucek, Lisa; Riday, Heathcliffe; RUFENER, BRYCE - University Of Wisconsin; Burke, Allen; SEEHAVER EAGEN, SARAH - North Carolina State University; EHLKE, NANCY - University Of Minnesota; KROGMAN, SARAH - Noble Research Institute; Mirsky, Steven; REBERG-HORTON, C - North Carolina State University; RYAN, MATT - Cornell University; WAYMAN, SANDRA - Cornell University; WEIRING, NICK - University Of Minnesota

Submitted to: Frontiers in Plant Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/29/2020
Publication Date: 3/3/2020
Citation: Kucek, L.K., Riday, H., Rufener, B.P., Burke, A.N., Seehaver Eagen, S., Ehlke, N., Krogman, S., Mirsky, S.B., Reberg-Horton, C., Ryan, M.R., Wayman, S., Weiring, N. 2020. Pod dehiscence in hairy vetch (Vicia Villosa Roth). Frontiers in Plant Science. 11:82. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00082.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00082

Interpretive Summary: Hairy vetch provides many benefits to farming systems: supplying nitrogen fertilizer to subsequent crops, reducing soil erosion, and limiting nutrient transport to nearby water bodies. Seeds of hairy vetch, however, easily shatter out of the pod. Pod shatter makes seed production expensive, which discourages more farmers from using this conservation crop. Pod shatter also scatters seeds, causing hairy vetch to become a weed problem for farms. With the goal of developing varieties that do not shatter, we screened 606 diverse lines of hairy vetch. We also tested various methods to screen for shattering. Lines varied widely for pod shatter. Many lines produced pods that all shattered, but some lines held seed in intact pods. Visual ratings of shatter were fast and effective at identifying the highest shattering lines. More time-consuming evaluations, which measure how much force is necessary to break an intact pod, were necessary to pinpoint lines that are most resistant to shattering. This research is the first exploration of pod shatter in the hairy vetch species. Using these results, researchers and seed companies can release varieties of hairy vetch that improve farms and the environment.

Technical Abstract: Hairy vetch, Vicia villosa (Roth), is a cover crop that does not exhibit a typical domestication syndrome. Pod dehiscence reduces seed yield and creates weed problems for subsequent crops. De novo domestication efforts aim to reduce pod dehiscence in hairy vetch. To characterize pod dehiscence in the species, we quantified visual dehiscence and force required to cause dehiscence among 606 genotypes grown among seven environments of the United States. To identify potential secondary selection traits, we correlated pod dehiscence with various morphological pod characteristics and field measurements. Genotypes of hairy vetch exhibited wide variation in pod dehiscence, from completely indehiscent to completely dehiscent ratings. Mean force to dehiscence also varied widely, from 0.279 to 8.97 N among genotypes. No morphological traits were consistently correlated with pod dehiscence among environments where plants were grown. Results indicated that visual ratings of shatter would efficiently screen against genotypes with high pod dehiscence early in the de novo domestication process. Advanced rounds of selection may need to employ force to dehiscence to identify the most indehiscent genotypes.