Coupling genetic structure analysis and ecological-niche modeling in Kersting’s groundnut in West Africa

Habitat range shift and prediction of the potential future distribution of Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baill.) Heckel in Benin (West Africa)

Ricinodendron heudelotii (Baill.) Heckel is an important nutraceutical reservoir. Its Sustainable exploitation requires information on its potential distribution in the current context of rapid population growth and climate change threats. This study aimed to map the suitable areas for its domestication and conservation under current and future climate conditions in Benin. Occurrence data were recorded and combined with the environmental layers of two climatic scenarios (optimistic RCP 4.5 and pessimistic RCP 8.5) following the biodiversity modelling approach (biomod2). Currently, about four percent (5082 Km2) of the country's area mainly located in the sub-humid and the humid zones were potentially suitable for R. heudelotii distribution. Under future climatic conditions the potentially suitable areas were mainly in the sub-humid zone, but almost all the highly suitable areas located in the humid zone will become medium suitable areas by the years 2055 and 2085 horizons. This study shows that, whatever the future climatic scenarios, R. heudelotii will substantially maintain the size of its range across the country. These findings allow undertaking anticipated actions to better adapt to the potential effects of climate change and to better guide policies for the conservation and development of forest resources.

Exploiting genetic and genomic resources to enhance productivity and abiotic stress adaptation of underutilized pulses

Underutilized pulses and their wild relatives are typically stress tolerant and their seeds are packed with protein, fibers, minerals, vitamins, and phytochemicals. The consumption of such nutritionally dense legumes together with cereal-based food may promote global food and nutritional security. However, such species are deficient in a few or several desirable domestication traits thereby reducing their agronomic value, requiring further genetic enhancement for developing productive, nutritionally dense, and climate resilient cultivars. This review article considers 13 underutilized pulses and focuses on their germplasm holdings, diversity, crop-wild-crop gene flow, genome sequencing, syntenic relationships, the potential for breeding and transgenic manipulation, and the genetics of agronomic and stress tolerance traits. Recent progress has shown the potential for crop improvement and food security, for example, the genetic basis of stem determinacy and fragrance in moth bean and rice bean, multiple abiotic stress tolerant traits in horse gram and tepary bean, bruchid resistance in lima bean, low neurotoxin in grass pea, and photoperiod induced flowering and anthocyanin accumulation in adzuki bean have been investigated. Advances in introgression breeding to develop elite genetic stocks of grass pea with low β-ODAP (neurotoxin compound), resistance to Mungbean yellow mosaic India virus in black gram using rice bean, and abiotic stress adaptation in common bean, using genes from tepary bean have been carried out. This highlights their potential in wider breeding programs to introduce such traits in locally adapted cultivars. The potential of de-domestication or feralization in the evolution of new variants in these crops are also highlighted.

The Exploitation of Orphan Legumes for Food, Income, and Nutrition Security in Sub-Saharan Africa

Poverty, food, and nutrition insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have become major concerns in recent times. The effects of climate change, drought, and unpredictable rainfall patterns threaten food production and sustainable agriculture. More so, insurgency, youth restiveness, and politico-economic instability amidst a burgeoning population requiring a sufficient and healthy diet remain front-burner issues in the region. Overdependence on only a few major staple crops is increasingly promoting the near extinction of many crops, especially orphan legumes, which possess immense potentials as protein and nutritional security crops. The major staple crops are declining in yield partly to their inability to adapt to the continuously changing climatic conditions. Remarkably, the orphan legumes are climate-smart crops with enormous agronomic features which foster sustainable livelihood. Research efforts on these crops have not attained a reasonable comparative status with most commercial crops. Though many research organizations and scientists have made efforts to promote the improvement and utilization of these orphan legumes, there is still more to be done. These legumes' vast genetic resources and economic utility are grossly under-exploited, but their values and promising impacts are immeasurable. Given the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) of zero hunger, improved nutrition, health, and sustainable agriculture, the need to introduce these crops into food systems in SSA and other poverty-prone regions of the world is now more compelling than ever. This review unveils inherent values in orphan legumes needing focus for exploitation viz-a-viz cultivation, commercialization, and social acceptance. More so, this article discusses some of the nutraceutical potentials of the orphan legumes, their global adaptability, and modern plant breeding strategies that could be deployed to develop superior phenotypes to enrich the landraces. Advanced omics technologies, speed breeding, as well as the application of genome editing techniques, could significantly enhance the genetic improvement of these useful but underutilized legumes. Efforts made in this regard and the challenges of these approaches were also discussed.