Modern Genomic Tools for Pigeonpea Improvement: Status and Prospects

Abstract

Pigeonpea owing to its ability to sustain harsh environment and limited input/water requirement remains an excellent remunerative crop in the face of increasing climatic adversities. With nearly 70% share in global pigeonpea production, India is the leading pigeonpea producing country. Since the mid-1900s, constant research efforts directed to improve yield and resistance levels of pigeonpea have resulted in the development and deployment of several commercially accepted cultivars in India, accommodating into diverse agro-climatic zones. However, the crop productivity needs incremental improvements in order to meet the growing nutritional demands, especially in developing countries like India where pigeonpea forms a dominant part of vegetarian diet. Empowering crop improvement strategies with genomic tool kit is imperative to attain the project gains in crop yield. In the context, adoption of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has helped establish a wide range of genomic resources to support pigeonpea breeding, and the existing molecular tool kit includes genome-wide genetic markers, transcriptome/genome assemblies, and candidate genes/QTLs for target traits. Similarly, availability of whole mitochondrial genome sequence and derived DNA markers is immensely relevant in order to furthering the understanding of cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) system and hybrid breeding. This chapter covers the progress of developing modern genomic resources in pigeonpea and highlights their vital role in designing future crop breeding schemes.

Utilizing Wild Cajanus platycarpus, a Tertiary Genepool Species for Enriching Variability in the Primary Genepool for Pigeonpea Improvement

“…Pigeonpea is an excellent protein-rich legume crop that is mainly grown under rainfed conditions on marginal lands with minimal inputs and plays an important role in subsistence agriculture (Bohra et al, 2017;Obala et al, 2018). The modern pigeonpea cultivars have a narrow genetic base due to the frequent use of a few promising lines in the hybridization programs over the years.…”

True hybridity analysis using genome-wide hypervariable SSR markers in pomegranate

“…In contrast to the morphological method of hybrid identification which usually takes 3-4 years, SSR analysis takes only 1-3 months depending on the number of populations or sample size in trees [18]. Hypervariable SSRs were already found highly useful for hybrid authentication or purity assessment and parentage confirmation in other crops [32].…”

Pigeonpea improvement: An amalgam of breeding and genomic research

“…Whole mitochondrial genome sequence paved new avenue for a better understanding of cytoplasmic male‐sterility systems and hybrid breeding in pigeonpea. New generation mapping populations like multiparent advanced generation intercross (MAGIC) and nested association mapping (NAM) population not only ensures the best utilization of high‐throughput genotyping/sequencing platforms, but also offers several advantages over conventional (biparental) mapping populations in terms of greater resolution and allelic richness aiding in family‐based QTL study and Linkage‐linkage disequilibrium analysis (Bohra et al., ).…”