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.

BackgroundCurrently, the technology called Clearfield® is used in the development of crops resistant to herbicides that inhibit the enzyme acetohydroxy acid synthase (AHAS, EC 2.2.1.6). AHAS is the first enzyme of the biosynthetic pathway that produces the branched-chain of the essential amino acids valine, leucine, and isoleucine. Therefore, multiple copies of the AHAS gene might be of interest for breeding programs targeting herbicide resistance. In this work, the characterization of the AHAS gene was accomplished for the Chenopodium quinoa Regalona-Baer cultivar. Cloning, sequencing, and Southern blotting were conducted to determine the number of gene copies.ResultsThe presence of multiple copies of the AHAS gene as has been shown previously in several other species is described. Six copies of the AHAS gene were confirmed with Southern blot analyses. CqHAS1 and CqAHAS2 variants showed the highest homology with AHAS mRNA sequences found in the NR Database. A third copy, CqAHAS3, shared similar fragments with both CqAHAS1 and CqAHAS2, suggesting duplication through homeologous chromosomes pairing.ConclusionsThe presence of multiple copies of the gene AHAS shows that gene duplication is a common feature in polyploid species during evolution. In addition, to our knowledge, this is the first report of the interaction of sub-genomes in quinoa

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd) is a dicotyledonous annual species belonging to the family Amaranthaceae, which is nutritionally well balanced in terms of its oil, protein and carbohydrate content. Targeting-induced local lesions in genomes (the TILLING strategy) was employed to find mutations in acetolactate synthase (AHAS) genes in a mutant quinoa population. The AHAS genes were targeted because they are common enzyme target sites for five herbicide groups. Ethyl methane sulfonate (EMS) was used to induce mutations in the AHAS genes; it was found that 2% EMS allowed a mutation frequency of one mutation every 203 kilobases to be established. In the mutant population created, a screening strategy using pre-selection phenotypic data and next-generation sequencing (NGS) allowed identification of a mutation that alters the amino acid composition of this species (nucleotide 1231 codon GTT→ATT, Val→Ile); however, this mutation did not result in herbicide resistance. The current work shows that TILLING combined with the high-throughput of NGS technologies and an overlapping pool design provides an efficient and economical method for detecting induced mutations in pools of individuals.

The research was carried out in Mocache, province of Los Ríos, where three experimental corn trials were established, one on the property of Mr. Fortunato Cedeño Diaz, located in the John F. Kennedy sector, and two located on the “La María” Campus of the Quevedo State Technical University (UTEQ), with the purpose of evaluating the effect of different planting distances of a commercial hybrid (hybrid ADV-9139) and a creole variety (Creole variety S/N) of corn during the dry and rainy seasons, in order to define optimal planting distances to achieve better yields. A completely randomized design (CRD) with a unifactorial arrangement was applied, with six treatments composed of a combination of two variables: varieties and planting distances. The first consisted of two genotypes: hybrid ADV-9139 and a creole variety S/N, and the second consisted of distances of 0.6 times 0.2 m; 0.7 × 0.2 m and 0.8 × 0.2 m. Each of these treatments had four replications. The results showed little influence of distances on plant height, stem diameter and ear insertion height. Regarding productive parameters such as yield, T4 (Hybrid ADV 9139 + 0.6 X 0.2) and T5 (Hybrid ADV 9139 + 0.7 X 0.2) stood out in trials 1 and 3, while only T4 stood out in trial 2.

Common bean is an important crop due to its high nutritional value. However, its production in Ecuador has decreased due to biotic and abiotic factors. Understanding the mechanisms that determine the yield components of this crop is essential to establish strategies that allow increasing the yield. In this study, the plant density was modified to evaluate its impact on yield and its two main components, the grain number and grain weight under field conditions in an Andean region of Ecuador. Two experiments planted on different dates were performed, where two planting densities 4 and 11 plants m-2 were evaluated. The effect of the treatments was studied on the length of the period, from emergence to anthesis, the number of full and empty pods, grain number, 100 grain weight and grain yield. The results indicate that the plant density has a significant effect (p<0.05) on the yield, reaching an average of 257.15 g m-2 in high density, and 151.45 g m-2 in low density. The yield main components showed a different response to plant density modification; the grain number exhibited a strong variability and was positively associated with final grain yield (p<0.05) while the grain weight was not affected.

La quinua (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) se ha cultivado principalmente en la cordillera de los Andes en Bolivia, Perú, Ecuador y Colombia, fue uno de los principales alimentos de los pueblos andinos preincaicos e incaicos. Las bondades de la quinua radican en su alto valor nutricional por su contenido de proteína y su gran plasticidad fenotípica. La presente investigación se realizó en la Finca Experimental “La María” de la Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo, ubicada en la provincia de Los Ríos. El objetivo del trabajo fue analizar las características agronómicas de los genotipos de quinua en condiciones ambientales de la costa central. Se aplicó un diseño completamente al azar con veintiún tratamientos (genotipos) y tres repeticiones. Las variables agronómicas evaluadas mostraron diferencias estadísticas significativas (p<0.05). En la variable altura de planta destacó el genotipo 48 con 154.17 cm a los 90 días. Por otra parte, en la determinación de días a la cosecha el genotipo más tardío fue el genotipo RGG con 143 días, mientras el genotipo más precoz fue el 42 con 90 días a la cosecha. En la variable peso de 1,000 semillas los resultados alcanzados demostraron que el genotipo Faro 2 destacó ligeramente con un registro de 2.58 g. Finalmente, en cuanto al rendimiento por planta (g) el mayor registro lo obtuvo el genotipo O-5 con 143.15 g planta-1. Los datos registrados en las distintas variables demuestran viabilidad en la producción de quinua y debido a su amplia adaptabilidad, la convierten en una valiosa alternativa de diversificación para la costa ecuatoriana.