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Balestrazzi A, Calvio C, Macovei A, Pagano A, Laux P, Moutahir H, Rajjou L, Tani E, Chachalis D, Katsis C, Ghaouti L, Gmouh S, Majid S, Elleuch A, Hanin M, Khemakhem B, El Abed H, Nunes J, Araújo S, Benhamrouche A, Bersi M. Seed quality as a proxy of climate-ready orphan legumes: the need for a multidisciplinary and multi-actor vision. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2024; 15:1388866. [PMID: 39148611 PMCID: PMC11325182 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1388866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 07/12/2024] [Indexed: 08/17/2024]
Abstract
In developing countries, orphan legumes stand at the forefront in the struggle against climate change. Their high nutrient value is crucial in malnutrition and chronic diseases prevention. However, as the 'orphan' definition suggests, their seed systems are still underestimated and seed production is scanty. Seed priming is an effective, sustainable strategy to boost seed quality in orphan legumes for which up-to-date guidelines are required to guarantee reliable and reproducible results. How far are we along this path? What do we expect from seed priming? This brings to other relevant questions. What is the socio-economic relevance of orphan legumes in the Mediterranean Basin? How to potentiate a broader cultivation in specific regions? The case study of the BENEFIT-Med (Boosting technologies of orphan legumes towards resilient farming systems) project, developed by multidisciplinary research networks, envisions a roadmap for producing new knowledge and innovative technologies to improve seed productivity through priming, with the long-term objective of promoting sustainability and food security for/in the climate-sensitive regions. This review highlights the existing drawbacks that must be overcome before orphan legumes could reach the state of 'climate-ready crops'. Only by the integration of knowledge in seed biology, technology and agronomy, the barrier existing between research bench and local agricultural fields may be overcome, generating high-impact technical innovations for orphan legumes. We intend to provide a powerful message to encourage future research in line with the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alma Balestrazzi
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology "L. Spallanzani", University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Cinzia Calvio
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology "L. Spallanzani", University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Anca Macovei
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology "L. Spallanzani", University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Andrea Pagano
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology "L. Spallanzani", University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Patrick Laux
- Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
| | - Hassane Moutahir
- Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK-IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
| | - Loїc Rajjou
- Université Paris-Saclay, National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE), AgroParisTech, Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (IJPB), Versailles, France
| | - Eleni Tani
- Laboratory of Plant Breeding and Biometry, Department of Crop Science, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece
| | - Dimosthenis Chachalis
- Department of Pesticides' Control and Phytopharmacy, Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Athens, Greece
| | | | - Lamiae Ghaouti
- Department of Plant Production, Protection and Biotechnology, Hassan II Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine, Rabat, Morocco
| | - Said Gmouh
- Laboratory Laboratory of Engineering and Materials (LIMAT), Faculty of Sciences Ben M'sick, University Hassan II of Casablanca, Casablanca, Morocco
| | - Sanaa Majid
- Laboratory GeMEV, Faculty of Sciences Aïn Chock, University Hassan II of Casablanca, Casablanca, Morocco
| | - Amine Elleuch
- Higher Institute of Biotechnology, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Moez Hanin
- Higher Institute of Biotechnology, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Bassem Khemakhem
- Higher Institute of Biotechnology, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Hanen El Abed
- Higher Institute of Biotechnology, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia
| | - Joao Nunes
- Center Bio R&D Unit, Association BLC3-Technology and Innovation Campus, Oliveira do Hospital, Portugal
| | - Susana Araújo
- Center Bio R&D Unit, Association BLC3-Technology and Innovation Campus, Oliveira do Hospital, Portugal
| | - Aziz Benhamrouche
- Institute of Architecture and Earth Science, University Ferhat Abbas-Setif 1, Setif, Algeria
| | - Mohand Bersi
- Institute of Architecture and Earth Science, University Ferhat Abbas-Setif 1, Setif, Algeria
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Cortés AJ, López-Hernández F, Blair MW. Genome–Environment Associations, an Innovative Tool for Studying Heritable Evolutionary Adaptation in Orphan Crops and Wild Relatives. Front Genet 2022; 13:910386. [PMID: 35991553 PMCID: PMC9389289 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2022.910386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Leveraging innovative tools to speed up prebreeding and discovery of genotypic sources of adaptation from landraces, crop wild relatives, and orphan crops is a key prerequisite to accelerate genetic gain of abiotic stress tolerance in annual crops such as legumes and cereals, many of which are still orphan species despite advances in major row crops. Here, we review a novel, interdisciplinary approach to combine ecological climate data with evolutionary genomics under the paradigm of a new field of study: genome–environment associations (GEAs). We first exemplify how GEA utilizes in situ georeferencing from genotypically characterized, gene bank accessions to pinpoint genomic signatures of natural selection. We later discuss the necessity to update the current GEA models to predict both regional- and local- or micro-habitat–based adaptation with mechanistic ecophysiological climate indices and cutting-edge GWAS-type genetic association models. Furthermore, to account for polygenic evolutionary adaptation, we encourage the community to start gathering genomic estimated adaptive values (GEAVs) for genomic prediction (GP) and multi-dimensional machine learning (ML) models. The latter two should ideally be weighted by de novo GWAS-based GEA estimates and optimized for a scalable marker subset. We end the review by envisioning avenues to make adaptation inferences more robust through the merging of high-resolution data sources, such as environmental remote sensing and summary statistics of the genomic site frequency spectrum, with the epigenetic molecular functionality responsible for plastic inheritance in the wild. Ultimately, we believe that coupling evolutionary adaptive predictions with innovations in ecological genomics such as GEA will help capture hidden genetic adaptations to abiotic stresses based on crop germplasm resources to assist responses to climate change. “I shall endeavor to find out how nature’s forces act upon one another, and in what manner the geographic environment exerts its influence on animals and plants. In short, I must find out about the harmony in nature” Alexander von Humboldt—Letter to Karl Freiesleben, June 1799.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrés J. Cortés
- Corporacion Colombiana de Investigacion Agropecuaria AGROSAVIA, C.I. La Selva, Rionegro, Colombia
- *Correspondence: Andrés J. Cortés, ; Matthew W. Blair,
| | - Felipe López-Hernández
- Corporacion Colombiana de Investigacion Agropecuaria AGROSAVIA, C.I. La Selva, Rionegro, Colombia
| | - Matthew W. Blair
- Department of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN, United States
- *Correspondence: Andrés J. Cortés, ; Matthew W. Blair,
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Ku YS, Contador CA, Ng MS, Yu J, Chung G, Lam HM. The Effects of Domestication on Secondary Metabolite Composition in Legumes. Front Genet 2020; 11:581357. [PMID: 33193705 PMCID: PMC7530298 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2020.581357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Legumes are rich in secondary metabolites, such as polyphenols, alkaloids, and saponins, which are important defense compounds to protect the plant against herbivores and pathogens, and act as signaling molecules between the plant and its biotic environment. Legume-sourced secondary metabolites are well known for their potential benefits to human health as pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. During domestication, the color, smell, and taste of crop plants have been the focus of artificial selection by breeders. Since these agronomic traits are regulated by secondary metabolites, the basis behind the genomic evolution was the selection of the secondary metabolite composition. In this review, we will discuss the classification, occurrence, and health benefits of secondary metabolites in legumes. The differences in their profiles between wild legumes and their cultivated counterparts will be investigated to trace the possible effects of domestication on secondary metabolite compositions, and the advantages and drawbacks of such modifications. The changes in secondary metabolite contents will also be discussed at the genetic level to examine the genes responsible for determining the secondary metabolite composition that might have been lost due to domestication. Understanding these genes would enable breeding programs and metabolic engineering to produce legume varieties with favorable secondary metabolite profiles for facilitating adaptations to a changing climate, promoting beneficial interactions with biotic factors, and enhancing health-beneficial secondary metabolite contents for human consumption.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yee-Shan Ku
- Centre for Soybean Research of the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, China
| | - Carolina A. Contador
- Centre for Soybean Research of the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, China
| | - Ming-Sin Ng
- Centre for Soybean Research of the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, China
| | - Jeongjun Yu
- Department of Biotechnology, Chonnam National University, Yeosu, South Korea
| | - Gyuhwa Chung
- Department of Biotechnology, Chonnam National University, Yeosu, South Korea
| | - Hon-Ming Lam
- Centre for Soybean Research of the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology and School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, China
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