Adaptive potential in Amazonian plant genomes: From pre-Columbian domestication to applications in ecosystem restoration

• Grant number: 25/07470-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2025
• End date: July 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering - Nature Conservation
• Principal Investigator: Maria Imaculada Zucchi
• Grantee: Ana Flávia Francisconi
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 25/00468-0 - Brazil-UKRI: The recovery of the adaptive capacity of Pre-Columbian tree crops to environmental changes, AP.R

Abstract

The United Nations has declared this the "Decade of Ecosystem Restoration". However,current metrics prioritize simple attributes as taxonomic richness and carbonaccumulation, minimizing ecosystem complexity as genetic diversity and adaptativepotential of species on long-term scales. It is necessary to identify how genomicvariations influence adaptative potential in different plant groups and how this potentialrecover after anthropogenic disturbances, even over periods of up to 2,000 years,contributing to the restoration of functional ecosystems. This project proposes amultiple approach, which includes collecting species, assembling and sequencingcomplete genomes and obtaining chronosequences to compare the recovery trajectory ofthe adaptive potential of different populations. Human activity affects the integrity offorests at different scales, such as the domestication process. In order to quantify theimpacts and recovery of anthropogenic action throughout the genome, two Amazonianspecies will be used, considered to bem incipiently domesticated in pre-Columbiantimes: the açaí (Euterpe precatoria) and the piquiá (Caryocar villosum). By sequencingthe entire genome of the individuals, SNPs markers will be obtained to quantify thediversity and structure of populations, as well as the discovery of regions underselection in the genome. The results will identify genomes with greater geneticvariability and therefore greater adaptive potential. These individuals could be used inrestoration programs, increasing their resilience and resistance to global change. (AU)