The Exceptionally Large Genomes of the Fabeae Tribe: Comparative Genomics and Applications in Abiotic and Biotic Stress Studies

Abstract

The Fabeae tribe comprises five legume genera, which include some of the most ancient and important crops, like peas, lentils, and faba beans. Biotic and environmental stresses are major threats to the stable and high productivity of Fabeae crops. The use of omics resources can provide breeders with the tools needed to develop new crop varieties in a more efficient and sustainable way. However, the genomic efforts on Fabeae crops have lagged behind compared to other legume species, mainly due to their large genome size and repeat content. The first annotated chromosome-level reference genome assembly in Fabeae was published for pea (Pisum sativum cv. Caméor) in 2019. Since then, many efforts have been made to sequence the genome of other species from this tribe. Currently, 17 genomes of Fabeae species are available for the scientific community; five of them are at the chromosome level. Fundamental knowledge and molecular tools for breeding have been boosted on the legume resistance/tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses by the availability of some of these recent reference genomes, especially the pea cv. Caméor genome. This review provides a comparison of the Fabeae tribe genomes available and an overview of recent accomplishments in their application in abiotic and biotic stress research.