Biotechnological Perspectives of Omics and Genetic Engineering Methods in Alfalfa

Abstract

For several decades, researchers are working to develop improved major crops with better adaptability and tolerance to environmental stresses. Forage legumes have been widely spread in the world due to their great ecological and economic values. Abiotic and biotic stresses are main factors limiting legume production, however, alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) shows relatively high level of tolerance to drought and salt stress. Efforts focused on alfalfa improvements have led to the release of cultivars with new traits of agronomic importance such as high yield, better stress tolerance or forage quality. Alfalfa has very high nutritional value due to its efficient symbiotic association with nitrogenfixing bacteria, while deep root system can help to prevent soil water loss in dry lands. The use of modern biotechnology tools is challenging in alfalfa since full genome, unlike to its close relative barrel medic (Medicago truncatula Gaertn.), was not released yet. Identification, isolation, and improvement of genes involved in abiotic or biotic stress response significantly contributed to the progress of our understanding how crop plants cope with these environmental challenges. In this review, we provide an overview of the progress that has been made in high-throughput sequencing, characterization of genes for abiotic or biotic stress tolerance, gene editing, as well as proteomic and metabolomics techniques bearing biotechnological potential for alfalfa improvement.

Forage crops: a repository of functional trait diversity for current and future climate adaptation

“…For instance, an integrated research framework combining genomics, physiology and breeding contributed to improved legume production under elevated CO 2 (Palit et al 2020). Omics approaches such as next-generation sequencing, identification of SNPs, genotyping by sequencing, GWAS, transcriptomics, proteomics and genome editing in lucerne have helped to elucidate the genes and regions related to stress tolerance and in the development of stress-tolerant germplasm (Hrbáčková et al 2020). Although omics studies have been employed less in forage crops, they could represent a useful approach to identify and develop climate resilient forage crops.…”

“…2020). Omics approaches such as next-generation sequencing, identification of SNPs, genotyping by sequencing, GWAS, transcriptomics, proteomics and genome editing in lucerne have helped to elucidate the genes and regions related to stress tolerance and in the development of stress-tolerant germplasm (Hrbáčková et al . 2020).…”

Characterization of Forage Quality, Phenolic Profiles, and Antioxidant Activity in Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)

“…Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.) is a perennial herb belonging to the Fabaceae family. Globally, it is one of the most important forage crops due to its high biomass production and good nutritive quality [ 1 ]. The quality characteristics of forage legumes have a very complex nature mostly influenced by maturity (harvest date), storage, environment (moisture, temperature, sunlight amount), trial field management, soil fertility, and cultivar [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ].…”

Overexpression of MsSAG113 gene promotes leaf senescence in alfalfa via participating in the hormone regulatory network

“…Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa )is an important leguminous herbage speceis, which is rich in protein, trace elements and vitamins. It has been widely used in the world because of its important ecological and economic values ( Hrbáčková et al., 2020 ). Therefore, it is important to study the senescence of alfalfa leaves to improve its application value.…”