Drought and salinity are the major environmental abiotic stresses that negatively impact crop development and yield. To improve yields under abiotic stress conditions, drought- and salinity-tolerant crops are key to support world crop production and mitigate the demand of the growing world population. Nevertheless, plant responses to abiotic stresses are highly complex and controlled by networks of genetic and ecological factors that are the main targets of crop breeding programs. Several genomics strategies are employed to improve crop productivity under abiotic stress conditions, but traditional techniques are not sufficient to prevent stress-related losses in productivity. Within the last decade, modern genomics studies have advanced our capabilities of improving crop genetics, especially those traits relevant to abiotic stress management. This review provided updated and comprehensive knowledge concerning all possible combinations of advanced genomics tools and the gene regulatory network of reactive oxygen species homeostasis for the appropriate planning of future breeding programs, which will assist sustainable crop production under salinity and drought conditions.

Drought and low-temperature stresses are the most prominent abiotic stresses affecting cotton. Wild cotton being exposed to harsh environments has more potential to cope with both biotic and abiotic stresses. Exploiting wild cotton material to induce resistant germplasm would be of greater interest. The candidate gene was identified in the BC2F2 population among Gossypium tomentosum and Gossypium hirsutum as wild male donor parent noted for its drought tolerance and the recurrent parent and a high yielding but drought susceptible species by genotyping by sequencing (GBS) mapping. Golden2-like (GLK) gene, which belongs to the GARP family, is a kind of plant-specific transcription factor (TF) that was silenced by virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS). Silencing of GhGLK1 in cotton results in more damage to plants under drought and cold stress as compared with wild type (WT). The overexpression of GhGLK1 in Arabidopsis thaliana showed that the overexpressing plants showed more adaptability than the WT after drought and cold treatments. The results of trypan blue and 3,3′-diaminobenzidine (DAB) staining showed that after drought and cold treatment, the leaf damage in GhGLK1 overexpressed plants was less as compared with the WT, and the ion permeability was also lower. This study suggested that the GhGLK1 gene may be involved in the regulation of drought and cold stress response in cotton. Our current research findings add significantly to the existing knowledge of cold and drought stress tolerance in cotton.

Article HistoryIn order to investigate the adaptability of mung bean varities; a study was carried out at the research field of Mehoni Agricultural Research Center in 2014/15 cropping season. Nine varities were arranged in 3*3 lattice design with three replications in six rows per plot with 2.4 m wide and 4 m long, and with spacing of 40 cm between rows and 10 cm between plants. Days to flowering, Days to maturity, Plant height, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, hundred seed weight and grain yield per hectare was significantly influenced by variety. The highest grain yield (1362.50 kg ha -1 ) was obtained from Black bean variety; followed by Shewa robit (1225.00 kg ha -1 ). On the contrary, the lowest grain yield value (242.60 kg ha -1 ) was obtained at MH BR-1 variety. Thus, both black bean and Shewa robit varities were best adapted in Raya valley.Contribution/Originality: This research finding contributes concrete information and attends the issues of best adaptable varieties to the specific agro-ecology (Raya valley) for mung bean producers.

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