Pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] is one of the world's hardiest warm‐season cereal crop and is cultivated mainly in the semi‐arid tropics of Asia and Africa for food, feed, fodder, and brewing. It is mainly cultivated for its gluten‐free grains with high content and better quality of nutrients. Pearl millet is a resilient crop that can produce grain and biomass under harsh conditions like low fertility, erratic rainfall, acidic and saline soils, and the hottest climates. However, biotic stresses such as downy mildew and blast diseases and abiotic stresses, especially drought and seedling‐ and flowering‐stage heat stress, pose constant threat to the realization of yield potential of this crop. To make further improvement in threshold level of abiotic and biotic stress tolerance, breeders are looking for novel genes in diverse germplasm sources. Crop wild relatives (CWRs) could be a source of novel genes that are important for diversification of the genetic base of pearl millet. A stage‐gate process is proposed for the efficient management of prebreeding programs using CWRs as a source of germplasm diversity and improvement. This article explains the various strategies for capturing and using alleles for climate resilience traits improvement. This article covers breeders’ perspectives on importance of using CWRs as germplasm source for crop improvement. This article also describes the availability of CWRs, characterization of new traits and the strategies to be applied for the identification and introduction of genes of interest in elite breeding lines and commercial varieties and hybrids of pearl millet.

中文翻译：

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利用珍珠粟的野生亲缘种增强种质：挑战和机遇

珍珠小米[狼尾草（L.）R. Br。]是世界上最困难的暖季谷物作物之一，主要在亚洲和非洲的半干旱热带地区种植，用于食品，饲料，饲料和酿造。主要因为其无麸质谷物而被种植，该谷物的含量高且营养素质量更好。珍珠粟是一种有韧性的作物，可以在恶劣的条件下生产谷物和生物质，例如低肥力，降雨不规律，酸性和盐碱土壤以及最热的气候。但是，诸如霜霉病和疾风病等生物胁迫以及非生物胁迫，尤其是干旱以及苗期和开花期的热胁迫，对实现该作物的单产潜力构成持续威胁。为了进一步提高非生物和生物胁迫耐受性的阈值水平，育种者正在寻找各种种质资源中的新基因。作物野生近缘种（CWR）可能是新基因的来源，这些新基因对于珍珠粟遗传基础的多样化很重要。为了使用CWR作为种质多样性和改良的源头，对育种程序进行有效管理，提出了分阶段流程。本文介绍了捕获和使用等位基因改善气候适应性状的各种策略。本文涵盖了育种者关于使用CWR作为种质资源改善作物的重要性的观点。本文还介绍了CWR的可用性，新性状的表征以及将用于鉴定和引入优良育种系，商品品种和珍珠粟杂交种中感兴趣的基因的策略。