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Ecological niche, genetic variation in natural populations, and harvest maturity of Senegalia macrostachya (Rchb. ex DC) Kayl. & Boatwr., a promising wild and perennial edible-seeded crop

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Abstract

Senegalia macrostachya is a wild, perennial, and promising legume that can help alleviate food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa’s drought-prone regions. However, it has been for a long time overlooked, underutilized, and scarcely studied. This study shed light on its ecological niche, genetic variation in natural populations, and seeds’ harvest maturity. Three populations of S. macrostachya were selected along an environmental gradient, and their structures, based on their plants’ pod characteristics (i.e., unique morphological differentiation trait amongst the plants), were assessed. Then, the seeds’ development was investigated following their morphological transformation, mass accumulation, and the mobilization of their proteins and secondary metabolites. S. macrostachya has revealed low genetic variation and fitness to poor soils, warm and semi-arid climates in sub-Saharan Africa, prone to droughts and low to medium agricultural productivity. The maturation of the seeds involved the accumulation of specific late embryogenesis abundant proteins (60, 48, and 14 kDa), identified as chilling-responsive dehydrins, and the degradation of the chlorophylls and carotenoids, which could be used as biochemical landmarks of the harvest maturity. Besides, an aging symptom (high seed abortion rate (14–20%)) was observed in the study populations. This work provides unprecedented information that will assist in predicting the eco-climate suitability and climate resilience, identifying the conservation strategies, and planning the harvesting, reforestation programs, and domestication of S. macrostachya. In parallel, the dehydrins identified from S. macrostachya can be tapped into for drought-resistant crop development. Further research is needed to evaluate the impacts of the mother plants’ aging and larger climate gradient on the performance (i.e., seed productivity and regeneration ability) of S. macrostachya.

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Data availability

All raw data generated during the present study are available from the first and corresponding authors upon request. Besides, the online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-022-00772-5.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge Dr. Lambert George Ouedraogo, consultant in natural resources and environment management, for his feedback and the copy of his Ph.D. thesis (see in reference), which has been essential for the design and discussion of this study.

Funding

Moustapha Soungalo Drabo is grateful for Burkina Faso national and Ghent University (BOF 01W05318) Ph.D. scholarships. Habtu Shumoy thanks Ghent University for his post-doc grant (BOF19/PDO/026).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Unit VEG-i-TEC, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Sint-Martens-Latemlaan 2B, 8500, Kortrijk, Belgium

    Moustapha Soungalo Drabo, Habtu Shumoy & Katleen Raes

  2. Laboratory of Applied Biochemistry and Immunology, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University Joseph Ki-Zerbo, BP 7021, Ouagadougou 03, Burkina Faso

    Moustapha Soungalo Drabo & Aly Savadogo

  3. Saria Research Station, Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research, BP 10, Koudougou, Burkina Faso

    Jonas Koala

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  1. Moustapha Soungalo Drabo
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  3. Jonas Koala
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  4. Aly Savadogo
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  5. Katleen Raes
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Contributions

MSD: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing—Original Draft; HS: Investigation, Writing—Review & Editing; JK: Resources, Writing—Review & Editing; AS: Resources, Supervision; KR: Methodology, Resources, Supervision, Formal analysis, Writing—Review & Editing.

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Correspondence to Katleen Raes.

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Ethics approval

This study did not involve animal subjects or human participants, and no specific permissions were required to sample the fruits and the herbarium specimens. No previous report states Senegalia macrostachya (Rchb. ex DC) Kyal. & Boatwr. (formerly as Acacia macrostachya Rchb. ex DC) is threatened or under protection in any of the sampled locations. The species is listed to have a “least concern” conservation status (https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/144286715/149015544, accessed 12/08/2022).

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Drabo, M.S., Shumoy, H., Koala, J. et al. Ecological niche, genetic variation in natural populations, and harvest maturity of Senegalia macrostachya (Rchb. ex DC) Kayl. & Boatwr., a promising wild and perennial edible-seeded crop. Agroforest Syst 97, 1233–1247 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-022-00772-5

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