Breeding for coffee and cocoa root resilience in low input farming systems based on improved rootstocks (BOLERO)

果树作物（FTC）受到气候变化（CC）的强烈影响，以50多个品种为代表，种植面积超过100 M Ha。由于嫁接，砧木可以增强对非生物和生物胁迫的耐受性，为扩大粮食生产提供了有价值的解决方案。BOLERO的目标是i)开发表型工具，ii)利用它们在控制和田间条件下对咖啡/可可（包括嫁接植物）的根系结构（RSA）性状进行评分，iii)通过大规模代谢建模解码咖啡/可可植物的微生物组及其与根分泌物的界面，以及iv)利用这些资源根据基因型数据和微生物组组成和丰度建立RSA性状的预测模型，以加速咖啡/可可育种。该数据汇编将与数据中心结合使用，以调查FTCs的遗传多样性，并利用它来剖析RSA性状的遗传基础及其可塑性。BOLERO将提出快速和低成本的育种策略来创建砧木，并将在低投入的咖啡/可可种植系统中进行试验。嫁接植株的农艺性能和盈利能力将在越南进行评估。BOLERO将依靠欧洲大型科学界的知识，热带国家国家研究所的支持，以及行业的专业知识，以咖啡为模型，可可为概念证明，领导一项多学科的砧木选择研究，并提出易于转移到所有FTCs的工具和技术。BOLERO将首次大规模开发和演示开源种子计划。因此，BOLERO将为生物多样性和“从农场到餐桌”战略做出贡献，对FTCs的培育方式产生重大影响，对有益土壤生物群和生物多样性的利用产生重大影响，从而导致对CC的适应、投入物的使用和土壤碳封存。

Fruit tree crops (FTC), represented by more than 50 species grown on over 100 M Ha, are strongly affected by climate change (CC). Thanks to grafting, rootstocks can confer enhanced tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses, providing a valuable solution to expand food production. BOLERO aims to i) develop phenotyping tools, ii) employ them to score root system architecture (RSA) traits of coffee/ cocoa, including grafted plants, under controlled and on-field conditions, iii) decode the microbiome of coffee/cocoa plants and the interface with the root exudates with large-scale metabolic modelling, and iv) use these resources to build predictive models of RSA traits in terms of genotypic data and microbiome composition and abundance to accelerate coffee/cocoa breeding. This data compendium will be used in combination with a data hub to survey the genetic diversity in FTCs and use it to dissect the genetic basis of RSA traits and their plasticity. BOLERO will propose fast and low-cost breeding strategies to create rootstocks, which will be tested in low-input coffee/cocoa farming systems. The agronomic performances and profitability of grafted plants will be assessed in Vietnam. BOLERO will rely on the knowledge of the large scientific community in Europe, the support of national institutes in tropical countries, and the expertise of industries to lead a multidisciplinary study for rootstocks selection with Coffee as a model, Cocoa as proof of concept, and propose tools and techniques transferable easily to all FTCs. BOLERO will develop and demonstrate for the first time at a large scale the open-source seeds initiative. BOLERO will therefore contribute to the Biodiversity and Farm to Fork Strategies, through significant impacts on the way FTCs are bred and on the use of beneficial soil biota and biodiversity, leading on adaptation to CC, inputs used and soil carbon sequestration.