The Dioscorea rotundara Diversity Research Set (DrDRS) is a collection of 102 accessions of Guinea yam developed by JIRCAS in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the Iwate Biotechnology Research Center (IBRC) to improve the efficiency of breeding and cultivation of Guinea yam. This research on DrDRS selection which was published in Crop Science (https://doi.org/10.1002/csc2.20431), was featured as a science news on the homepage of the Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and is expected to play a role in future research and breeding of Guinea yam. 

The DrDRS selected this time uses the SSR marker, which is a type of DNA marker, to narrow down the number of strains from the 447 accessions of Guinea yam genetic resources at IITA to a mini-core collection representing 102 accessions, while maintaining genetic diversity for more detailed research. This study evaluated key agricultural traits such as the number of stems per plant, growth period, number of tubers per plant, tuber weight and total yield per plant for all accessions. In addition, this DrDRS is now available for distribution through IITA. In the future, the whole genome information of Guinea yam (https://www.jircas.go.jp/ja/publication/research_results/2017_b02) that has been deciphered so far and the DrDRS are expected to facilitate the development of excellent varieties that make effective use of the wide range of genetic diversity of this crop. 

Click the image to see the article "CATALOGUING GENETIC INFORMATION ABOUT YAM" in the science news of the Crop Science Society of America. 

https://www.crops.org/news/science-news/cataloguing-genetic-information…

Contributor: MURANAKA Satoru and YAMANAKA Shinsuke