Cultivation

The properties of Amaranth oil depend on the genes that are present in the respective plant. But the genes are only a part of the story. These genes have to become active during seed maturation to obtain an effect on oil composition. We think that Omega-3-Fatty Acids play an important role for the adaptation to the cool Andean nights, possibly also to UV-irradiation that is very strong in the region, where Peruvian Amaranth is cultivated. Thus, we investigate in frame of the project different environmental conditions. Since it is technically impossible to conduct the molecular studies directly in Peru, we have simulated the climatic conditions prevailing in Peru, in Mexico and in Germany to understand, how different types of Amaranth respond und how climate affects fatty-acid metabolism. Here, we observed that temperature is, in fact, highly relevant. The same holds true for day length because flowers can only form when the days are short enough. For this reason, the Peruvian Amaranth (A. caudatus) flowers only in late autumn in Germany, while the species from Mexico flower much earlier. For the future breeding of Amaranth varieties that can be cultivated in Germany, but still exhibit the valuable nutrition traits of Peruvian Amaranth, we might cross the species (in a natural manner, this does not require any genetic engineering whatsoever). Since we know in the meantime, which gene variants are relevant for the formation of Omega-3-Fatty Acids, we can then check in the progeny, which plants have got the correct "Peruvian" variant, although they flower earlier, following the habit of their Mexican parent. This can be asssessed by PCR already in the seedlings stage using a tiny sample of leaf material, a strategy known as marker-assisted breeding or smart breeding. To enable this approach in the future, weh ave already mapped important agronomical parameters, such as height, size of the infructescence, yield and flowering time. These data, in combination with the molecular and chemical data we have collected in parallel, lay the foundation for future breeding activities.