From elite germplasm to transformation platform: Breaking recalcitrance in Tartary buckwheat

Buckwheat is an important functional food resource due to its various bioactive compounds. Molecular breeding in buckwheat faces several challenges, including an underdeveloped regeneration system and low genetic transformation efficiency. “China is the center of buckwheat germplasm diversity and the origin of cultivated buckwheat, so it boasts abundant buckwheat resources,” says Meiliang Zhou, corresponding author of a new study published in the Journal of Integrative Agriculture. “However, a systematic analysis of MC induction and transformation potential among accessions is lacking, and no superior recipient lines have been identified.”

To address this limitation, the team of researchers from China and Poland conducted a phylogenetic analysis of 100 Tartary buckwheat accessions from wild and cultivated germplasm in northern and southern China and the Himalayan region.

“We selected 20 core accessions representing distinct phylogenetic clades and evaluated their capacity for regeneration through the induction rate of immature zygotic embryo-derived callus, induction rate of proembryogenic cell complexes (PECCs), and PECC proliferation capacity,” explains Zhou.

“Using morphogenic callus for genetic transformation represents a significant advancement in overcoming the challenges with buckwheat species,” adds lead author Zhen Wang. “This strategy offers a uniform, actively dividing cell population with high regenerative capacity, which improves the efficiency of gene infection, integration, and regeneration.” 

By screening the superior Tartary buckwheat variety G253 and establishing an efficient morphogenic callus induction system, the study provided critical germplasm and technological support for establishing robust genetic transformation platforms and accelerating molecular breeding progress in Tartary buckwheat.

Contact Authors:

Correspondence Meiliang Zhou, E-mail: zhoumeiliang@caas.cn

Funder:

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32241042, 32161143005, 32301794, 32401816, 32572314, 32501861, and W2512019), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2023YFF1002500) and the National Science Centre of Poland, Research Project SONATA BIS 10 (Reg. 2020/38/E/NZ9/00033 awarded to AB).

Conflict of Interest:

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

See the Article:

Wang Z et al. 2026. From elite germplasm to transformation platform: Breaking recalcitrance in Tartary buckwheat. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 25(7): 3090-3093.