Common Vetch: a drought tolerant, high protein neglected leguminous crop with potential as a sustainable food source

Abstract

13• Global demand for protein is predicted to increase by 50% by 2050. To meet the increasing demand 14 whilst ensuring sustainability, protein sources that generate low-greenhouse gas emissions are required 15 and protein-rich legume seeds have the potential to make a significant contribution. Legumes like 16 common vetch (Vicia sativa) that grow in marginal cropping zones and are drought tolerant and 17 resilient to changeable annual weather patterns, will be in high demand as the climate changes. In 18 common vetch, the inability to eliminate the γ-glutamyl-β-cyano-alanine (GBCA) toxin present in the 19 seed has hindered its utility as a human and animal food for many decades, leaving this highly resilient 20 species an "orphan" legume. However, the availability of the vetch genome and transcriptome data 21 together with the application of CRISPR-Cas genome editing technologies lay the foundations to 22 eliminate the GBCA toxin constraint. In the near future, we anticipate that a zero-toxin vetch variety 23 will become a significant contributor to global protein demand. 24

Genome survey sequencing of common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) and genetic diversity analysis of Chinese germplasm with genomic SSR markers

“…Common vetch (Vicia sativa L.), with excellent drought and cold tolerance, could be exploited to cope with the requirements of humans and livestock [5,8]. However, the high r-glutamyl-b-cyano-alanine (GBCA) content in common vetch seeds has restricted its application in agriculture, and the traditional strategies have failed to breed common vetch with no GBCA [4].…”

“…In addition, common vetch can also be used as a green manure crop on idle farmland due to its strong ability to fix nitrogen [3]. Moreover, following with the increasing global population and plant-based protein demands, common vetch could be exploited as a future potential protein source due to its widely adaption in marginal cropping zones with severe drought and cold conditions [4].…”

Common Vetch: A Drought Tolerant, High Protein Neglected Leguminous Crop With Potential as a Sustainable Food Source

“…This manuscript has been released as a pre-print at https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.11. 943324 (Nguyen et al, 2020).…”

An efficient root transformation system for recalcitrant Vicia sativa

“…The recent emergence of transcriptome data (Kim et al, 2015;Dong et al, 2017) will accelerate the identification of the genes controlling traits such as pod shattering (Dong et al, 2017), γ-glutamyl-β-cyanoalanine toxin accumulation (Kim et al, 2015) and drought tolerance in vetch (De la Rosa et al, 2020). However, it is difficult to demonstrate the function of candidate genes due to the lack of a robust transformation and plant regeneration system (Ford et al, 2008;Nguyen et al, 2020). Preliminary research by Maddeppungeng (2006) showed that vetch cells are able to be transformed as evident by green fluorescent protein (GFP) expression in callus but no regeneration of plants from these transformed cells was reported.…”