Legume Breeding and Genetic Improvement for Adaptation of Climate Change

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2021) | Viewed by 29666

Special Issue Editors

Agroécologie, AgroSup Dijon, INRA, Univ. Bourgogne, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, F-21000 Dijon, France
Interests: ecophysiology; genetics; genomics; model-assisted breeding; phenotyping
Agroécologie, AgroSup Dijon, INRA, Univ. Bourgogne, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, F-21000 Dijon, France
Interests: ecophysiology; genetics; genomics; model-assisted breeding; phenotyping

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Grain legumes deliver multiple ecosystem services such as protein-based food and feed and the sustainability of agro-ecosystems through their unique ability to fix atmospheric dinitrogen (N2) via symbiosis with soil rhizobia. However, in the current and future context of climate change, including increases in temperature, drought period frequency and intensity, salinity, etc., their productivity is endangered. In order to meet future food and feed needs, it is essential to enhance their resilience to individual or combined abiotic stresses. Please share your success stories from research in legume improvement for adaptation to climate change in this Special Issue.

Submissions on  (but not limited to) the following topics are invited: 1) Legume breeding for abiotic stress tolerance; 2) genetics and translational genomics of abiotic stress tolerance ; 3) identification of morphological and physiological traits leading to legume resilience; 4) high-throughput phenotyping methods for the screening of large legume collections.

Dr. Marion Prudent
Dr. Vanessa Vernoud
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • Yield stability
  • Abiotic stress
  • Legumes
  • Agroecology
  • Resilience

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1942 KiB  
Article
Metabolic Responses of Two Contrasting Lentil Genotypes to PEG-Induced Drought Stress
by Chrysanthi Foti, Ioannis F. Kalampokis, Konstantinos A. Aliferis and Ourania I. Pavli
Agronomy 2021, 11(6), 1190; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11061190 - 10 Jun 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2835
Abstract
Among abiotic stresses, drought is undoubtedly one of the most severe environmental factors for a wide range of major crops, leading to considerable yield and economic losses. The adverse effects in crop yield reflect the result of a series of morphological and physiological [...] Read more.
Among abiotic stresses, drought is undoubtedly one of the most severe environmental factors for a wide range of major crops, leading to considerable yield and economic losses. The adverse effects in crop yield reflect the result of a series of morphological and physiological changes but also changes in signaling pathways, transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of stress-responsive genes, and metabolic adaptations. Despite the exhausting studies elucidating plants’ metabolic response to drought, there is a knowledge gap in the biochemical mechanisms governing drought tolerance in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.). The present study aimed to determine the fluctuations of the metabolite profiles of lentil genotypes with contrasting drought tolerance to discover possible biomarkers for screening tolerant genotypes at early growth stages. Lentil seedlings were subjected to osmotic drought stress, induced by polyethylene glycol, at two stress levels (2.5% and 5.0% PEG-6000) for a period of 20 days, while untreated plants were also included as controls. GC/ΕΙ/MS-mediated metabolic profiling was employed to monitor changes in response to osmotic drought stress. The data was subjected to OPLS-DA and OPLS-HCA for the discrimination between treatments and the discovery of trends and corresponding biomarkers. In total, the analysis yielded 150 metabolite features with highly reproducible patterns, of which the vast majority belonged to carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, and amino acids. Overall, findings highlight the differential accumulation of a series of compounds, and more importantly, the variable accumulation of certain metabolites, namely D-fructose, α,α-trehalose, myo-inositol, and L-tryptophan, in the contrasting genotypes, indicating that the adaptive metabolic responses to osmotic drought stress operate under strong genotypic dependency in lentil. Research findings provide insights into various aspects of lentil’s metabolism under drought and further offer the possibility of applying such knowledge towards effectively screening for drought-tolerant lentil germplasm at early growth stages. Full article
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24 pages, 4399 KiB  
Article
Pea Breeding Lines Adapted to Autumn Sowings in Broomrape Prone Mediterranean Environments
by Diego Rubiales, Salvador Osuna-Caballero, María J. González-Bernal, María J. Cobos and Fernando Flores
Agronomy 2021, 11(4), 769; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11040769 - 14 Apr 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2072
Abstract
In Mediterranean environments, with mild winters and dry summers, peas are planted in autumn or early winter to profit from winter rain and to avoid terminal drought and high summer temperatures. The root parasitic weed broomrape (Orobanche crenata) appears as a [...] Read more.
In Mediterranean environments, with mild winters and dry summers, peas are planted in autumn or early winter to profit from winter rain and to avoid terminal drought and high summer temperatures. The root parasitic weed broomrape (Orobanche crenata) appears as a major limiting factor under these conditions. To address such specific growing conditions and associated constraints, targeted breeding is needed. We present here recent achievements in the development of pea lines arising from a wide hybridization program incorporating resistance to broomrape and to powdery mildew (Erysiphe pisi) from landraces and wild relatives. Their adaption to autumn sowings under Mediterranean rain fed conditions, and their agronomic performance and resistance to prevailing diseases is compared with those of check cultivars in a multi-environment field test with nine trials performed over three seasons. HA-GGE biplots were a powerful tool for comparison among accessions in terms of performance and stability for each trait assessed. Like this, breeding lines NS22, NS34, NS8, NS39, NS35, NS21 and NS83 over-yielded all check cultivars. Grain yield was strongly affected by broomrape infection, with little influence of powdery mildew and ascochyta blight. All breeding lines studied showed high to moderate resistance to broomrape, whereas all check cultivars were severely infected. Broomrape infection was not correlated with days to flowering, whereas powdery mildew infection was favored by long cycles. Broomrape infection was enhanced by mild winter temperatures before flowering and spring rain, whereas high spring temperatures hampered broomrape development. Full article
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11 pages, 1171 KiB  
Article
Identification of Superior Soybean Cultivars through the Indication of Specific Adaptabilities within Duo-Environments for Year-Round Soybean Production in Northeast Thailand
by Chompoonut Sritongtae, Tidarat Monkham, Jirawat Sanitchon, Sanit Lodthong, Sittipong Srisawangwong and Sompong Chankaew
Agronomy 2021, 11(3), 585; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy11030585 - 19 Mar 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2636
Abstract
The soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is one of the world’s most important sources of food, feed, and fuel due to its high protein value and oil content. However, there exists a lack of soybean genotypes suitable for growth in diverse conditions [...] Read more.
The soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill) is one of the world’s most important sources of food, feed, and fuel due to its high protein value and oil content. However, there exists a lack of soybean genotypes suitable for growth in diverse conditions as soybean breeders have developed their own varieties for specific purposes within their own unique environments. This, therefore, creates the need for soybean genotypes for different environments. The objectives of the experiment described herein were to determine the genotype magnitude through the environment interaction (GxE) of new soybean breeding lines, thereby identifying widely and/or specifically adapted genotypes under ten of Northeast Thailand’s typical environmental conditions from 2017 to 2019. Analyses of the environment (E) and GxE captured a large portion of the total sum of squares of grain yield and related traits, which demonstrated the influence of the two factors in evaluating soybean genotypes, thereby identifying the need for response analysis to identify superior genotypes in each environment. Based on the grain yields of three environments, four genotype groups were clustered. Within the high grain yield environment (EG1), we identified five genotypes with higher yield performance (35*sj-32 (3356 kg/ha), 38D*a-16 (3138 kg/ha), 42*Ly-50-2 (3122 kg/ha), 35*Lh-7 (3116 kg/ha), and 223*Lh-85 (3073 kg/ha)) of KK (3132 kg/ha), the recommended soybean variety for Northeast Thailand, than that of the CM60 (2606 kg/ha). These five top-yielding genotypes, however, produced unstable grain yields through varied environments as they were each narrowly adapted to a specific environment. Moreover, those genotypes may be grown within a rotational cropping system in a duo-environment (wet and dry season) of soybean production in Thailand’s northeast region. Full article
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12 pages, 1528 KiB  
Article
Adaptation of Grass Pea (Lathyrus sativus) to Mediterranean Environments
by Diego Rubiales, Amero A. Emeran and Fernando Flores
Agronomy 2020, 10(9), 1295; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy10091295 - 01 Sep 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3656
Abstract
Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) is an annual legume crop widely cultivated in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, but in regression in Mediterranean region. Its rusticity and nutritious value is calling back attention for its reintroduction into Mediterranean rain-fed farming systems. We [...] Read more.
Grass pea (Lathyrus sativus) is an annual legume crop widely cultivated in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, but in regression in Mediterranean region. Its rusticity and nutritious value is calling back attention for its reintroduction into Mediterranean rain-fed farming systems. We studied the adaptation of a range of breeding lines in multi-environment field testing in Spain and Egypt, showing wide variation for grain yield. Broomrape (Orobanche crenata) infection appeared as the major limiting factor in both countries. Level of broomrape infection was highly influenced by environmental conditions, being favored by moderate temperatures at crop flowering and rain and humidity after flowering. The additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) analysis was applied to understand the interaction between genotype (G) and environment (E) on grain yield and on broomrape infection. AMMI analyses revealed significant G and E effects as well as G*E interaction with respect to both traits. The AMMI analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that both, yield and broomrape infection were dominated by the environment main effect. AMMI1 biplot for grain yield revealed Ls10 and Ls11 as the accession with highest yields, closely followed by Ls16, Ls18 and Ls19. However, these accessions showed also lower stability, being particularly adapted to Delta Nile conditions. On the contrary, accessions Ls12 and Ls14 were more adapted to rain fed Spanish conditions. Accessions Ls7, Ls1 and Ls3 were the most stable over environments for grain yield. Full article
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11 pages, 1811 KiB  
Article
Soybean Response to Weather and Climate Conditions in the Krasnodar and Primorye Territories of Russia over the Past Decades
by Liubov Yu. Novikova, Pavel P. Bulakh, Alexander Yu. Nekrasov and Irina V. Seferova
Agronomy 2020, 10(9), 1278; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy10091278 - 28 Aug 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3488
Abstract
In view of climate change and the active extension of soybean cultivation in Russia, the identification of yield-limiting factors has become a relevant task. The objective of this study was to identify the climatic factors associated with the variation in soybean productivity under [...] Read more.
In view of climate change and the active extension of soybean cultivation in Russia, the identification of yield-limiting factors has become a relevant task. The objective of this study was to identify the climatic factors associated with the variation in soybean productivity under the contrasting eco-geographical conditions of the Krasnodar (KR) and Primorye (PR) territories of Russia. An analysis of 424 soybean varieties from the global collection of the N.I. Vavilov Institute (VIR) at experimental stations in KR and PR in 1987–2005 showed that the soybean yields were higher and time to maturity was longer in KR than in PR, while the 1000 seed weight, on average, was irrelevant to the place of cultivation. The agrometeorological regression models of the observations in 1972–2017 of varieties accepted as the standards showed that the yield in PR was positively related to the sum of the temperatures above 10 °C and negatively related to precipitation in October, while in KR it was positively related to the hydrothermal coefficient. The stability of the soybean yield and of the time to maturity were higher in PR than in KR. Under the conditions of increasing temperatures and the absence of reliable trends for precipitation, a lack of moisture becomes a significant disadvantage for soybean in KR, while in PR conditions are improving. Full article
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17 pages, 1233 KiB  
Article
Nitrogen Uptake from Different Sources by Non-GMO Soybean Varieties
by Katarzyna Rymuza, Elżbieta Radzka and Andrzej Wysokiński
Agronomy 2020, 10(9), 1219; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy10091219 - 19 Aug 2020
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3147
Abstract
Soybean has the ability to live in symbiosis with microorganisms and take up nitrogen from the atmosphere, fertiliser and soil reserves. The amount of nitrogen taken up from these sources depends on many biotic and abiotic factors, e.g., the rhizobium species, cultivar, as [...] Read more.
Soybean has the ability to live in symbiosis with microorganisms and take up nitrogen from the atmosphere, fertiliser and soil reserves. The amount of nitrogen taken up from these sources depends on many biotic and abiotic factors, e.g., the rhizobium species, cultivar, as well as weather and agricultural conditions. A field experiment was conducted in eastern Poland (central Europe) in two successive growing seasons to examine the uptake of nitrogen from the atmosphere (NDFA—% nitrogen derived from the atmosphere), fertiliser (NDFF—% of nitrogen derived from fertiliser) and soil reserves (NDFS—% of nitrogen derived from the soil) for three non-GMO (non genetically modified organism) soybean cultivars: Abelina, SG Anser and Merlin. Pre-plant fertilisation of plants with nitrogen excess with the 15N isotope and the isotope dilution method were applied. Soil reserves and the atmosphere were major nitrogen sources for soybean. Soybean roots contained the most atmosphere-derived nitrogen (45.85%), the amount being lower for soil reserves (41.43%) and the lowest for fertiliser (12.72%). Harvest residues and seeds contained the most soil reserve-derived nitrogen, the amount being lower for the atmospheric nitrogen and the lowest for fertiliser-derived nitrogen. The amount of nitrogen derived from different sources in the whole soybean mass significantly depended on cultivars and years’ percentage values being affected by study years only. Less atmospheric nitrogen was accumulated in cv. Abelina roots (2.15 kg N·ha−1) compared with cv. SG Anser (3.07 kg N·ha−1) or cv. Merlin (2.89 kg N·ha−1). More atmospheric nitrogen was recorded in the post-harvest residues and seeds of cv. Abelina and SG Anser than Merlin. The content of soil reserve-derived nitrogen taken up by the whole soybean plants averaged 61.29 kg N∙kg−1, the amounts being 50.95 and 11.38 kgN∙kg−1 for nitrogen taken up from the atmosphere and fertiliser, respectively. Soybean grown in the study year with more favourable thermal and precipitation conditions (2017) took up more nitrogen from all the sources compared with the year 2018. Full article
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11 pages, 1946 KiB  
Article
High-Efficiency Agrobacterium rhizogenes-Mediated Transgenic Hairy Root Induction of Lens culinaris
by Chrysanthi Foti and Ourania I. Pavli
Agronomy 2020, 10(8), 1170; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy10081170 - 10 Aug 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4720
Abstract
Previous efforts to transform lentil have been considerably hampered by the crop’s recalcitrant nature, giving rise to particularly low transformation and regeneration frequencies. This study aimed at optimizing an Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation protocol for the generation of composite lentil plantlets, comprised of [...] Read more.
Previous efforts to transform lentil have been considerably hampered by the crop’s recalcitrant nature, giving rise to particularly low transformation and regeneration frequencies. This study aimed at optimizing an Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformation protocol for the generation of composite lentil plantlets, comprised of transgenic hairy roots and wild-type shoots. Transformation was performed by inoculating the cut hypocotyl of young lentil seedlings, while optimization involved the use of different bacterial strains, namely R1000, K599 and Arqua, and protocols differing in media composition with respect to the presence of acetosyringone and MES. Composite plantlets had a transgenic hairy root system characterized by an increased number of hairy roots at the hypocotyl proximal region, occasionally showing plagiotropic growth. Overall findings underline that transformation frequencies are subject to the bacterial strain, media composition as well as their combined effect. Among strains tested, R1000 proved to be the most capable of hairy root formation, while the presence of both acetosyringone and MES in inoculation and culture media yielded considerably higher transformation rates. The transgenic nature of hairy roots was demonstrated by the Ri T-DNA-mediated transfer of the rolB2 gene and the simultaneous absence of the virCD sequence of A. rhizogenes. Our findings provide strong evidence that A. rhizogenes-mediated transformation may be employed as a suitable approach for generating composite seedlings in lentil, a species whose recalcitrance severely hampers all efforts addressed to transformation and whole plant regeneration procedures. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the development of a non-laborious and time-efficient protocol for the generation of transgenic hairy roots in lentil, thus providing an amenable platform for root biology and gene expression studies in the context of improving traits related to biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. Full article
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27 pages, 670 KiB  
Article
Screening the FIGS Set of Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) Germplasm for Tolerance to Terminal Heat and Combined Drought-Heat Stress
by Noureddine El haddad, Karthika Rajendran, Abdelaziz Smouni, Nour Eddine Es-Safi, Nadia Benbrahim, Rachid Mentag, Harsh Nayyar, Fouad Maalouf and Shiv Kumar
Agronomy 2020, 10(7), 1036; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy10071036 - 18 Jul 2020
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 3961
Abstract
Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) is one of the most important cool season food legume crops grown in many countries. Seeds are typically rich in protein, fiber, prebiotic carbohydrates and minerals, such as iron and zinc. With changing climate and variability, the lentil [...] Read more.
Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) is one of the most important cool season food legume crops grown in many countries. Seeds are typically rich in protein, fiber, prebiotic carbohydrates and minerals, such as iron and zinc. With changing climate and variability, the lentil crop faces frequent droughts and heat stress of varying intensity in its major production zones. In the present study, a set of 162 lentil accessions selected through the Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) were screened for tolerance to heat stress and combined heat-drought stresses under field conditions at two contrasting locations, namely Marchouch and Tessaout in Morocco. The results showed a significant genotypic variation for heat tolerance and combined heat-drought tolerance among the accessions at both locations. Based on the heat tolerance index (HTI), accessions, namely ILL 7833, ILL 6338 and ILL 6104, were selected as potential sources of heat tolerance at Marchouch, and ILL 7814 and ILL 8029 at Tessaout. Using the stress tolerance index (STI), ILL 7835, ILL 6075 and ILL 6362 were identified as the most tolerant lines (STI > 1) at Marchouch, and ILL 7814, ILL 7835 and ILL 7804 (STI > 1) at Tessaout, under the combined heat-drought stress conditions. Accession ILL 7835 was identified as a good source of stable tolerance to heat stress and combined heat-drought stress at both locations. Full article
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10 pages, 1407 KiB  
Article
Adaptation of One-Flowered Vetch (Vicia articulata Hornem.) to Mediterranean Rain Fed Conditions
by Diego Rubiales and Fernando Flores
Agronomy 2020, 10(3), 383; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy10030383 - 11 Mar 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1957
Abstract
One-flower vetch (Vicia articulata) was widely cultivated in the Mediterranean Basin in the past but is currently underutilized. Valuable germplasm collections are stored in genebanks, which are poorly characterized. In an attempt to explore adaptation of landraces we performed a multi-environment [...] Read more.
One-flower vetch (Vicia articulata) was widely cultivated in the Mediterranean Basin in the past but is currently underutilized. Valuable germplasm collections are stored in genebanks, which are poorly characterized. In an attempt to explore adaptation of landraces we performed a multi-environment field testing, showing the availability of valuable resources for crop development, with average yield across environments ranging from 651 to 1102 kg/ha. Environmental factors and significant Genotype-by-Environment (G*E) interaction hampers selection of superior genotypes. Heritability-Adjusted Genotype plus Genotype-by-Environment interaction (HA-GGE) biplot performed here allowed to focus on the G and G*E interaction components relevant to cultivar evaluation. Landraces Va-38 and Va-85 were identified as the highest yielding landraces, being also the most stable over the environments. Two additional groups of landraces with relatively high yield were also identified but showing little stability across environments, with landraces Va-91 and Va-103 performing better in Córdoba, whereas Va-1, Va-2 and Va-66, did in Escacena. Córdoba appeared as a useful environment for selection, being representative, discriminant, and reproducible. Differences in precocity among landraces had little effect on yield in any of the studied environments. Temperature was the climatic factor most influential on yield as shown by Non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS) analysis. High temperatures after flowering being the most limiting factor for yield. Increased radiation during and after flowering were beneficial, with rain having little effect. Full article
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