The Adaptation and Tolerance of Major Cereals and Legumes to Important Abiotic Stresses

Abiotic stresses, including drought, extreme temperatures, salinity, and waterlogging, are the major constraints in crop production. These abiotic stresses are likely to be amplified by climate change with varying temporal and spatial dimensions across the globe. The knowledge about the effects of abiotic stressors on major cereal and legume crops is essential for effective management in unfavorable agro-ecologies. These crops are critical components of cropping systems and the daily diets of millions across the globe. Major cereals like rice, wheat, and maize are highly vulnerable to abiotic stresses, while many grain legumes are grown in abiotic stress-prone areas. Despite extensive investigations, abiotic stress tolerance in crop plants is not fully understood. Current insights into the abiotic stress responses of plants have shown the potential to improve crop tolerance to abiotic stresses. Studies aimed at stress tolerance mechanisms have resulted in the elucidation of traits associated with tolerance in plants, in addition to the molecular control of stress-responsive genes. Some of these studies have paved the way for new opportunities to address the molecular basis of stress responses in plants and identify novel traits and associated genes for the genetic improvement of crop plants. The present review examines the responses of crops under abiotic stresses in terms of changes in morphology, physiology, and biochemistry, focusing on major cereals and legume crops. It also explores emerging opportunities to accelerate our efforts to identify desired traits and genes associated with stress tolerance.

Fab Advances in Fabaceae for Abiotic Stress Resilience: From ‘Omics’ to Artificial Intelligence

Legumes are a better source of proteins and are richer in diverse micronutrients over the nutritional profile of widely consumed cereals. However, when exposed to a diverse range of abiotic stresses, their overall productivity and quality are hugely impacted. Our limited understanding of genetic determinants and novel variants associated with the abiotic stress response in food legume crops restricts its amelioration. Therefore, it is imperative to understand different molecular approaches in food legume crops that can be utilized in crop improvement programs to minimize the economic loss. ‘Omics’-based molecular breeding provides better opportunities over conventional breeding for diversifying the natural germplasm together with improving yield and quality parameters. Due to molecular advancements, the technique is now equipped with novel ‘omics’ approaches such as ionomics, epigenomics, fluxomics, RNomics, glycomics, glycoproteomics, phosphoproteomics, lipidomics, regulomics, and secretomics. Pan-omics—which utilizes the molecular bases of the stress response to identify genes (genomics), mRNAs (transcriptomics), proteins (proteomics), and biomolecules (metabolomics) associated with stress regulation—has been widely used for abiotic stress amelioration in food legume crops. Integration of pan-omics with novel omics approaches will fast-track legume breeding programs. Moreover, artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms can be utilized for simulating crop yield under changing environments, which can help in predicting the genetic gain beforehand. Application of machine learning (ML) in quantitative trait loci (QTL) mining will further help in determining the genetic determinants of abiotic stress tolerance in pulses.

​RCA-based Detection of Begomoviruses in Weed Ggenera Associated with Legumes in Southern Karnataka

Background: Yellow mosaic disease (YMD) caused by begomoviruses transmitted through the insect vector Bemisia tabaci poses a serious threat to the production of legume crops. Methods: Season-long surveys were carried out for YMD occurrence in six different legume crops and associated natural weeds both symptomatic and asymptomatic across the districts of southern Karnataka, India. The samples were analyzed through RCA PCR using specific primer pairs. Result: Up to 94.1 per cent YMD incidence was recorded and nine weed species were commonly found associated with legume crops. The weeds viz., Ageratum conyzoides, Alternanthera sessilis, Commelina benghalensis and Euphorbia geniculata were abundantly found in the surveyed regions. The weeds were both symptomatic and asymptomatic. Rolling circle amplification coupled polymerase chain reaction method was employed to detect yellow mosaic virus in asymptomatic weeds. Phylogenetic analysis based on the sequences of PCR amplified products of weeds and symptomatic legumes revealed a close clustering of the weed samples with horsegram yellow mosaic virus, legume yellow mosaic virus and mungbean yellow mosaic virus. Overall, our data suggests the role of weed species associated with legume crops as alternative/collateral hosts of begomoviruses and their role in the epidemiology of yellow mosaic disease.

​RCA-based Detection of Begomoviruses in Weed Genera Associated with Legumes in Southern Karnataka

Background: Yellow mosaic disease (YMD) caused by begomoviruses transmitted through the insect vector Bemisia tabaci poses a serious threat to the production of legume crops. Methods: Season-long surveys were carried out for YMD occurrence in six different legume crops and associated natural weeds both symptomatic and asymptomatic across the districts of southern Karnataka, India. The samples were analyzed through RCA PCR using specific primer pairs. Result: Up to 94.1 per cent YMD incidence was recorded and nine weed species were commonly found associated with legume crops. The weeds viz., Ageratum conyzoides, Alternanthera sessilis, Commelina benghalensis and Euphorbia geniculata were abundantly found in the surveyed regions. The weeds were both symptomatic and asymptomatic. Rolling circle amplification coupled polymerase chain reaction method was employed to detect yellow mosaic virus in asymptomatic weeds. Phylogenetic analysis based on the sequences of PCR amplified products of weeds and symptomatic legumes revealed a close clustering of the weed samples with horsegram yellow mosaic virus, legume yellow mosaic virus and mungbean yellow mosaic virus. Overall, our data suggests the role of weed species associated with legume crops as alternative/collateral hosts of begomoviruses and their role in the epidemiology of yellow mosaic disease.

Rhizobial–Host Interactions and Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation in Legume Crops Toward Agriculture Sustainability

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) process makes legume crops self-sufficient in nitrogen (N) in sharp contrast to cereal crops that require an external input by N-fertilizers. Since the latter process in cereal crops results in a huge quantity of greenhouse gas emission, the legume production systems are considered efficient and important for sustainable agriculture and climate preservation. Despite benefits of SNF, and the fact that chemical N-fertilizers cause N-pollution of the ecosystems, the focus on improving SNF efficiency in legumes did not become a breeder’s priority. The size and stability of heritable effects under different environment conditions weigh significantly on any trait useful in breeding strategies. Here we review the challenges and progress made toward decoding the heritable components of SNF, which is considerably more complex than other crop allelic traits since the process involves genetic elements of both the host and the symbiotic rhizobial species. SNF-efficient rhizobial species designed based on the genetics of the host and its symbiotic partner face the test of a unique microbiome for its success and productivity. The progress made thus far in commercial legume crops with relevance to the dynamics of host–rhizobia interaction, environmental impact on rhizobial performance challenges, and what collectively determines the SNF efficiency under field conditions are also reviewed here.

Molecular Mechanisms and Biochemical Pathways for Micronutrient Acquisition and Storage in Legumes to Support Biofortification for Nutritional Security

The world faces a grave situation of nutrient deficiency as a consequence of increased uptake of calorie-rich food that threaten nutritional security. More than half the world’s population is affected by different forms of malnutrition. Unhealthy diets associated with poor nutrition carry a significant risk of developing non-communicable diseases, leading to a high mortality rate. Although considerable efforts have been made in agriculture to increase nutrient content in cereals, the successes are insufficient. The number of people affected by different forms of malnutrition has not decreased much in the recent past. While legumes are an integral part of the food system and widely grown in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, only limited efforts have been made to increase their nutrient content in these regions. Genetic variation for a majority of nutritional traits that ensure nutritional security in adverse conditions exists in the germplasm pool of legume crops. This diversity can be utilized by selective breeding for increased nutrients in seeds. The targeted identification of precise factors related to nutritional traits and their utilization in a breeding program can help mitigate malnutrition. The principal objective of this review is to present the molecular mechanisms of nutrient acquisition, transport and metabolism to support a biofortification strategy in legume crops to contribute to addressing malnutrition.