Abstract
Grain legumes are commonly used for food and feed all over the world and are the main source of protein for over a billion people worldwide, but their production is at risk from climate change. Water deficit and heat stress both significantly reduce the yield of grain legumes, and the faba bean is considered particularly susceptible. The genetic improvement of faba bean for drought adaptation (water deficit tolerance) by conventional methods and molecular breeding is time-consuming and laborious, since it depends mainly on selection and adaptation in multiple sites. The lack of high-throughput screening methodology and low heritability of advantageous traits under environmental stress challenge breeding progress. Alternatively, selection based on secondary characters in a controlled environment followed by field trials is successful in some crops, including faba beans. In general, measured features related to drought adaptation are shoot and root morphology, stomatal characteristics, osmotic adjustment and the efficiency of water use. Here, we focus on the current knowledge of biochemical and physiological markers for legume improvement that can be incorporated into faba bean breeding programs for drought adaptation.
Highlights
Among the cultivated grain legume crops, the faba bean (Vicia faba L.) ranked sixth globally in production, with a value of 4.5 Million tonnes from 2.5 Mha in 2019 [1]
Salinity coupled with drought reduced the symbiotic nitrogen fixation, which may be due to its effect on the supply of photosynthates or oxygen to the nodule and bacteroids [62]
Improvement of global faba bean production will have a positive impact on the food supply and cropping systems of many nations
Summary
Among the cultivated grain legume crops, the faba bean (Vicia faba L.) ranked sixth globally in production, with a value of 4.5 Million tonnes from 2.5 Mha in 2019 [1]. Biological nitrogen fixation provides about 80% of the plant’s nitrogen needs [7], reaching 160 kg ha−1 [7,8,9], and about half of the crop’s fixed nitrogen content is left in the field after grain harvest. It is considered important for both its contribution to residual nitrogen in crop rotation [6] and its potential in green manuring [10]. The faba bean is considered to be sensitive to water deficit (Figure 1). The key key elements of of the roadmap roadmap and how how these relate relate to one one another
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