Quinoa is a highly diverse crop domesticated in the Andean region of South America with broad adaptation to a wide range of marginal environments. Quinoa has garnered interest worldwide due to its nutritional and health benefits. Over the last decade, quinoa production has expanded outside of the Andean region, prompting multiple studies investigating the potential for quinoa cultivation in novel environments. Currently, quinoa is grown in countries spanning five continents, including North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. Here, we update the advances of quinoa research in Ecuador across different topics, including (a) current quinoa production situation with a focus on breeding progress, (b) traditional seed production, and (c) the impact of the work of the nongovernment organization “European Committee for Training and Agriculture” with quinoa farmers in Chimborazo province. Additionally, we discuss genetic diversity, primary pests and diseases, actions for adapting quinoa to tropical areas, and recent innovations in quinoa processing in Ecuador. Finally, we report a case study describing a participatory breeding project between Washington State University and the Association of Andean Seed and Nutritional Food Producers Mushuk Yuyay in the province of Cañar.

Herbivores often move among spatially interspersed host plants, tracking high-quality resources through space and time. This dispersal is of particular interest for vectors of plant pathogens. Existing molecular tools to track such movement have yielded important insights, but often provide insufficient genetic resolution to infer spread at finer spatiotemporal scales. Here, we explore the use of Nextera-tagmented reductively-amplified DNA (NextRAD) sequencing to infer movement of a highly-mobile winged insect, the potato psyllid (Bactericera cockerelli), among host plants. The psyllid vectors the pathogen that causes zebra chip disease in potato (Solanum tuberosum), but understanding and managing the spread of this pathogen is limited by uncertainty about the insect’s host plant(s) outside of the growing season. We identified 1,978 polymorphic loci among psyllids separated spatiotemporally on potato or in patches of bittersweet nightshade (S. dulcumara), a weedy plant proposed to be the source of potato-colonizing psyllids. A subset of the psyllids on potato exhibited genetic similarity to insects on nightshade, consistent with regular movement between these two host plants. However, a second subset of potato-collected psyllids was genetically distinct from those collected on bittersweet nightshade; this suggests that a currently unrecognized source, i.e., other nightshade patches or a third host-plant species, could be contributing to psyllid populations in potato. Oftentimes, dispersal of vectors of pathogens must be tracked at a fine scale in order to understand, predict, and manage disease spread. We demonstrate that emerging sequencing technologies that detect genome-wide SNPs of a vector can be used to infer such localized movement.

Changing climate and land‐use practices have the potential to bring previously isolated populations of pest insects into new sympatry. This heightens the need to better understand how differing patterns of host–plant association, and unique endosymbionts, serve to promote genetic isolation or integration. We addressed these factors in populations of potato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli (Šulc), a generalist herbivore that vectors a bacterial pathogen (Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum, causal pathogen of zebra chip disease) of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). Genome‐wide SNP data revealed two major genetic clusters—psyllids collected from potato crops were genetically similar to psyllids found on a common weed, Lycium spp., but dissimilar from those found on another common non‐crop host, Solanum dulcamara L. Most psyllids found on Lycium spp. and potato represented a single mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI) haplotype that has been suggested to not be native to the region, and whose arrival may have been concurrent with zebra chip disease first emerging. The putatively introduced COI haplotype usually co‐occurred with endosymbiotic Wolbachia, while the putatively resident COI haplotype generally did not. Genetic intermediates between the two genetic populations of insects were rare, consistent with recent sympatry or reproductive isolation, although admixture patterns of apparent hybrids were consistent with introgression of genes from introduced into resident populations. Our results suggest that both host–plant associations and endosymbionts are shaping the population genetic structure of sympatric psyllid populations associated with different non‐crop hosts. It is of future interest to explicitly examine vectorial capacity of the two populations and their potential hybrids, as population structure and hybridization might alter regional vector capacity and disease outbreaks.

Bittersweet nightshade ( Solanum dulcamara L.) is a key noncrop host of the potato psyllid ( Bactericera cockerelli Šulc), proposed to be a source of the psyllids that colonize potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) fields in the northwestern United States. Here, we describe the broader community of arthropod potato pests, and also predatory arthropods, found in bittersweet nightshade patches. Over 2 yr, we sampled arthropods in patches of this weed spanning the potato-growing region of eastern Washington State. The potato psyllid was the most abundant potato pest that we found, with reproduction of these herbivores recorded throughout much of the growing season where this was measured. Aphid, beetle, and thrips pests of potato also were collected on bittersweet nightshade. In addition to these herbivores, we found a diverse community of >40 predatory arthropod taxa. Spiders, primarily in the Families Dictynidae and Philodromidae, made up 70% of all generalist predator individuals collected. Other generalist predators included multiple species of predatory mites, bugs, and beetles. The coccinellid beetle Stethorus punctillum (Weise) was observed eating psyllid eggs, while the parasitoid wasp Tamarixia triozae (Burks) was observed parasitizing potato psyllid nymphs. Overall, our survey verified the role of bittersweet nightshade as a potato psyllid host, while suggesting that other potato pests also use these plants. At the same time, we found that bittersweet nightshade patches were associated with species-rich communities of natural enemies. Additional work is needed to directly demonstrate movement of pests, and perhaps also predators, from bittersweet nightshade to potato fields.

Three species of potato tuber moths, Tecia solanivora Povolny, Symmetrischema tangolias Gyen, and Phthorimaea operculella Zeller (all Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), attack potato plants in the highlands of Ecuador and cause great economic losses. To understand their ecology and to develop precise integrated pest management strategies, a description of the molecular identification of each species and genetic diversity within populations is needed. In this study, we assessed the genetic diversity of a total of 112 moth samples of these 3 distinct species. Samples were collected from the 4 central provinces (Bolívar, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, and Tungurahua) in the Ecuadorian highlands, where potato is a major crop for food security. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Sanger sequencing, we compared mitochondrial gene sequences among conspecific moth samples. Each of the 3 species exhibited different patterns regarding genetic diversity; more than 1 haplotype was present in P. operculella and S. tangolias, whereas all T. solanivora samples were found to be genetically identical. This initial effort of molecular characterization of the potato tuber moths will facilitate identifying incursion and potential migration route of Gelechiidae species as well as prevention of the pest outbreaks.