Legumes represent the second most important family of crop plants after grasses, accounting for approximately 27% of the world's crop production. Past domestication processes resulted in a high degree of relatedness between modern varieties of crops, leading to a narrower genetic base of cultivated germplasm prone to pests and diseases. Crop wild relatives (CWRs) harbor genetic diversity tested by natural selection in a range of environments. To fully understand and exploit local adaptation in CWR, studies in geographical centers of origin combining ecology, physiology, and genetics are needed. With the advent of modern genomics and computation, combined with systematic phenotyping, it is feasible to revisit wild accessions and landraces and prioritize their use for breeding, providing sources of disease resistances; tolerances of drought, heat, frost, and salinity abiotic stresses; nutrient densities across major and minor elements; and food quality traits. Establishment of hybrid populations with CWRs gives breeders a considerable benefit of a prebreeding tool for identifying and harnessing wild alleles and provides extremely valuable long‐term resources. There is a need of further collecting and both ex situ and in situ conservation of CWR diversity of these taxa in the face of habitat loss and degradation and climate change. In this review, we focus on three legume crops domesticated in the Fertile Crescent, pea, chickpea, and lentil, and summarize the current state and potential of their respective CWR taxa for crop improvement.

Potential and limits of exploitation of crop wild relatives for pea, lentil, and chickpea improvement

Food legumes are important for defeating malnutrition and sustaining agri-food systems globally. Breeding efforts in legume crops have been largely confined to the exploitation of genetic variation available within the primary genepool, resulting in narrow genetic base. Introgression as a breeding scheme has been remarkably successful for an array of inheritance and molecular studies in food legumes. Crop wild relatives (CWRs), landraces, and exotic germplasm offer great potential for introgression of novel variation not only to widen the genetic base of the elite genepool for continuous incremental gains over breeding cycles but also to discover the cryptic genetic variation hitherto unexpressed. CWRs also harbor positive quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for improving agronomic traits. However, for transferring polygenic traits, "specialized population concept" has been advocated for transferring QTLs from CWR into elite backgrounds. Recently, introgression breeding has been successful in developing improved cultivars in chickpea (Cicer arietinum), pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan), peanut (Arachis hypogaea), lentil (Lens culinaris), mungbean (Vigna radiata), urdbean (Vigna mungo), and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). Successful examples indicated that the usable genetic variation could be exploited by unleashing new gene recombination and hidden variability even in late filial generations. In mungbean alone, distant hybridization has been deployed to develop seven improved commercial cultivars, whereas in urdbean, three such cultivars have been reported. Similarly, in chickpea, three superior cultivars have been developed from crosses between C. arietinum and Cicer reticulatum. Pigeonpea has benefited the most where different cytoplasmic male sterility genes have been transferred from CWRs, whereas a number of disease-resistant germplasm have also been developed in Phaseolus. As vertical gene transfer has resulted in most of the useful gene introgressions of practical importance in food legumes, the horizontal gene transfer through transgenic technology, somatic hybridization, and, more recently, intragenesis also offer promise. The gains through introgression breeding are significant and underline the need of bringing it in the purview of mainstream breeding while deploying tools and techniques to increase the recombination rate in wide crosses and reduce the linkage drag. The resurgence of interest in introgression breeding needs to be capitalized for development of commercial food legume cultivars.

/pdf/current-perspectives-on-introgression-breeding-in-food-3rk98xih8w.pdf

Current Perspectives on Introgression Breeding in Food Legumes.

Strategies for utilization of crop wild relatives in plant breeding programs.

The fluctuating climates, rising human population, and deteriorating arable lands necessitate sustainable crops to fulfil global food requirements. In the countryside, legumes with intriguing but enigmatic nitrogen-fixing abilities and thriving in harsh climatic conditions promise future food security. However, breaking the yield plateau and achieving higher genetic gain are the unsolved problems of legume improvement. Present study gives emphasis on 15 important legume crops, i.e., chickpea, pigeonpea, soybean, groundnut, lentil, common bean, faba bean, cowpea, lupin, pea, green gram, back gram, horse gram, moth bean, rice bean, and some forage legumes. We have given an overview of the world and India’s area, production, and productivity trends for all legume crops from 1961 to 2020. Our review article investigates the importance of gene pools and wild relatives in broadening the genetic base of legumes through pre-breeding and alien gene introgression. We have also discussed the importance of integrating genomics, phenomics, speed breeding, genetic engineering and genome editing tools in legume improvement programmes. Overall, legume breeding may undergo a paradigm shift once genomics and conventional breeding are integrated in the near future.

/pdf/unlocking-the-hidden-variation-from-wild-repository-for-2u7quc9y.pdf

Unlocking the hidden variation from wild repository for accelerating genetic gain in legumes

The narrow genetic base of cultivated chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) has hindered the progress in realizing high genetic gains in chickpea breeding programs. Moreover, different abiotic and biotic stresses are the major bottlenecks hampering chickpea productivity across the world. To attain further breakthrough for improving yield and stability in future cultivars, new gene sources should be identified and incorporated into the cultivated background. There is an urgent need for systematic characterization, evaluation and utilization of target traits from wild Cicer species to solve the problems associated with reduced crop production, thereby broadening the genetic base of cultivated gene pool. Furthermore, advances in chickpea genomics would facilitate breeding of climate resilient chickpea cultivars for sustainable agricultural production system. The review discusses the progress made in chickpea genetic improvement using wild species, including focus on gene pool and species distribution, germplasm conservation, characterization, evaluation and utilization of useful traits into the cultivated species.

Broadening the genetic base of cultivated chickpea following introgression of wild Cicer species-progress, constraints and prospects

Pratylenchus thornei, a nematode species that feeds and reproduces in chickpea (Cicer arietinum) roots, is widespread throughout the Mediterranean basin and Indian subcontinent. In Australia, it can cause yield losses up to approximately 25% of intolerant chickpea cultivars. Potential for improvement has been hindered by the narrow genetic diversity of cultivated chickpea and a limited world collection of original wild Cicer spp. in the primary gene pool, consisting of 18 C. reticulatum and 10 C. echinospermum accessions. Recently, collections of C. reticulatum and C. echinospermum from Turkey have substantially increased the number of accessions. This study evaluated 133 C. reticulatum and 41 C. echinospermum accessions from the new collection for resistance to P. thornei under controlled conditions in repeated glasshouse pot experiments. The aim of the study was to identify accessions with resistance superior to that currently available in Australian germplasm. Both wild Cicer spp. were found, on average, to be more resistant to P. thornei (P < 0.001) than C. arietinum. Combined analyses across experiments to determine genetic rankings showed that 13 (7%) wild accessions were significantly more resistant than the most resistant C. echinospermum reference ILWC 246, while another 40 (23%) accessions were significantly more resistant than the least susceptible Australian chickpea cultivar PBA Seamer. Mean P. thornei population densities differed significantly between collection sites in Turkey and within each of the genetic population groups. The sites Kayatepe and Baristepe1, and genetic population groups Ret_A and Ret_F associated with sites Oyali and Baristepe1, produced the lowest P. thornei population densities. This is the first report assessing the resistance to P. thornei of this new collection which offers novel sources of P. thornei resistance and untapped genetic diversity valuable for international chickpea breeding programs to exploit.

Novel Sources of Resistance to Root-Lesion Nematode ( Pratylenchus thornei) in a New Collection of Wild Cicer Species ( C. reticulatum and C. echinospermum) to Improve Resistance in Cultivated Chickpea ( C. arietinum)

Take home messages
This is the first investigation of a new collection of wild germplasm for nematode resistance. It offers the chance to exploit novel sources of P. thornei resistance and untapped genetic diversity, currently not available in cultivated chickpea and will be valuable for national and international chickpea breeding programs
Accessions of the wild chickpea species (Cicer reticuatum and C. echinospermum) from Turkey, were on average more resistant to the root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus thornei than commercial cultivars of chickpea (C. arietinum)
A total of 53 (30%) wild accessions were found significantly more resistant to P. thornei than the least susceptible Australian chickpea cultivar PBA Seamer
Thirteen of the wild accessions were more resistant than a wild relative of chickpea, C. echinospermum ILWC 246 which was identified from earlier studies when only a limited number of wild accessions were available
Having novel sources of P. thornei resistance with possible resistance to multiple diseases and insect pests such as cotton boll worm (Helicoverpa armigera), will increase the base of P. thornei resistance, and genetic diversity within chickpea for deployment in chickpea breeding programs aimed at developing new varieties with improved yield but possessing P. thornei resistance
Linking the data with genetic diversity studies can provide information on P. thornei resistance genes and their locations in the chickpea genome
Having more effective genes for resistance to P. thornei in chickpea cultivars will protect chickpea from yield loss and result in lower P. thornei residual populations in the soil. This will benefit other susceptible crops such as wheat, resulting in more flexible rotations with a profitable legume, and allow increased profit for growers.

Can wild species of chickpea from Turkey help with resistance to root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus thornei)?

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Novel Sources of Resistance to Root-Lesion Nematode ( Pratylenchus thornei) in a New Collection of Wild Cicer Species ( C. reticulatum and C. echinospermum) to Improve Resistance in Cultivated Chickpea ( C. arietinum)

Can wild species of chickpea from Turkey help with resistance to root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus thornei)?