Identification and Evaluation of a Core Germplasm Collection of the Cover Crop Vicia Villosa for Use in Sustainable Farming Systems.

We used molecular and biochemical techniques to identification and evaluate a core germplasm collection of the cover crop Vicia villosa for use in sustainable farming systems. Assessions of Vicia villosa from around the world were acquired from the USDA plant gemplasm collection. Plants were grown in Beltsville, MD and material was collected for analysis of genetic relatedness using genomic markers bases on Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms (AFLP). Phenotypic similarity was assessed by rating qualitative measures such as growth stature, flowering date, seed set, tendency for shattering, progeny seed germination and progeny seed dormancy. Biochemical traits such as % carbon and nitrogen were measured using a Costech CN analyzer and the biochemical species profile was determined by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy (NIR). We related these parameters of genetic, phenotypic and biochemical diversity to the geospatial relatedness of the various assessions and found that based on genome marker analysis many of the assessions can be grouped into broad groups based on origin country of collection. Although there is clear evidence of derivitized assessions that are likely a product of recent V. Villosa breeding efforts in the United States. Biochemically the assessions varied greatly in their carbon and nitrogen content, nitrogen being the most variable with a range of 2.6 to 4.8%. These results give some base line information to identified a core genetic subset of the Vicia villosa germplasm collection. Further breeding efforts may allow farmers to more readily take advantage of this useful cover crop for use in sustainable farming systems.