Legume Genomics and Breeding

Draft genome sequence of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) provides a resource for trait improvement

“…Recent breeding efforts over the past 60 years have been restricted to the limited introduction of diverse germplasm 4 . In much of the world, chickpea is cultivated in semi-arid environments and on soils of poor agricultural quality, which, combined with its susceptibility to drought and debilitating fungal diseases, have restricted yields to <1 ton/ha, which is considerably below the theoretical potential.…”

“…In much of the world, chickpea is cultivated in semi-arid environments and on soils of poor agricultural quality, which, combined with its susceptibility to drought and debilitating fungal diseases, have restricted yields to <1 ton/ha, which is considerably below the theoretical potential. Genetic improvement, either by traditional or molecular methods, has been hampered by the limited genomic resources coupled with narrow genetic diversity in the elite gene pool 4 .…”

Genomic tools and germplasm diversity for chickpea improvement

“…In the past five years, however, several national and international initiatives have tackled the challenge of dearth of genomic resources for genetics and breeding of chickpea (see Varshney et al, 2010b; …”

“…The major constraints to chickpea productivity are biotic stresses like Helicoverpa pod borer and fusarium wilt, abiotic stresses like drought, extreme temperatures and salinity, apart from its poor response to better management. The progress achieved through conventional breeding for improved varieties is not in pace with the current requirements, which is evident from the stagnant production of chickpea during past two decades (see Varshney et al, 2010b). With the exception of soybean, to various extents legume crops, including chickpea, have suffered from lack of genomic resources for genetic and genomic analysis -they have literally been 'orphans' from the genomics revolution (Varshney et al, 2009a).…”

“…With the exception of soybean, to various extents legume crops, including chickpea, have suffered from lack of genomic resources for genetic and genomic analysis -they have literally been 'orphans' from the genomics revolution (Varshney et al, 2009a). Recent years have seen tremendous progress in the development of large scale genomic resources such as DNA-based molecular markers, comprehensive genetic maps, whole-genome transcription profiling techniques to identify genomic regions and genes underlying plant stress responses (see Varshney et al, 2009a;Varshney et al, 2010b). These genomic tools will be useful to understand and access the diversity conserved in ex situ germplasm collections for chickpea improvement (Glaszmann et al, 2010).…”