Abiotic Stress Responses in Legumes: Physiological, Biochemical, and Molecular Perspectives

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 3300

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Guest Editor
Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Kiel University, Hermann-Rodewald-Straße 2, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Interests: plant–microbe interactions; legumes; N2 fixation; abiotic stress; plant metabolism; plant adaptations; functional genomics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Legume plants are susceptible to adverse environmental conditions, especially with the threatening scenarios of climate change. To cope with various abiotic constraints, legumes have evolved numerous sophisticated strategies at both morphological and physiological levels. Much progress has been made in understanding how environmental stresses have affected legumes’ performance in recent years. With the advances in physiological methodology and molecular biotechnology, diverse arrays of biochemical, physiological, and molecular mechanisms underlying those adaptive strategies have been well studied in a broad range of plants, both model and crop species. Despite this, various plant response and adaptation facets still lack adequate attention. A highlighted awareness of such knowledge remains a key element in designing strategies to enhance the productivity of legume crops through genetic engineering for higher performance. In this Special Issue, original research papers and reviews, describing the current state of knowledge of research in acclimation of legumes to abiotic stresses, are welcome.

Dr. Saad Sulieman
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • abiotic stress
  • adaptation
  • biotechnology
  • breeding
  • climate change
  • genomics
  • metabolism
  • model and crop legumes
  • symbiosis
  • translocation

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

28 pages, 10668 KiB  
Article
Drought-Induced Morpho-Physiological, Biochemical, Metabolite Responses and Protein Profiling of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)
by Yama Keerthi Sree, Nita Lakra, Kesineni Manorama, Yogesh Ahlawat, Abbu Zaid, Hosam O. Elansary, Shaban R. M. Sayed, Mohamed A. Rashwan and Eman A. Mahmoud
Agronomy 2023, 13(7), 1814; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13071814 - 7 Jul 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1676
Abstract
The chickpea (Cicer arieitnum L.) is an important food legume crop of the family Fabaceae with high protein levels that is widely grown in rainfed areas prone to drought stress. It is a self-pollinated cool season crop with a true diploid (2n [...] Read more.
The chickpea (Cicer arieitnum L.) is an important food legume crop of the family Fabaceae with high protein levels that is widely grown in rainfed areas prone to drought stress. It is a self-pollinated cool season crop with a true diploid (2n = 16) nature. It is relatively cheap and a high source of protein. About 90% of the chickpea crop is grown by the use of residual moisture in the soil without depending on irrigation. In the present study, two varieties of chickpea, namely ICC 4958 and HC-6, were grown under three field capacities (FC) (100% FC, 50% FC and 25% FC). Samples were taken three times, i.e., 15, 30 and 45 days after sowing (DAS). Parameters such as morphological, physiological, biochemical, metabolite and protein profiling of the two varieties were completed. Morphological parameters such as shoot length (14.2%), number of branches (20.7%), number of leaves (17.5%) and yield (56%) declined as the drought level increased and other characteristics such as root length (9.7%), number of flowers (24.5%) and number of pods (34.4%) increased as drought stress progressed. Physiological parameters such as relative water content (RWC) (13.5%), cell membrane stability (CMS) (29.6%) and chlorophyll content decreased, whereas electrolyte conductivity (EC) (38%) increased in both the varieties as field capacity decreased. Biochemical parameters such as proline (54.75%), sugar (15.2%), glycine betaine (32.25%), superoxide dismutase (SOD) (49.5%), catalase (CAT) (50.5%), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) (44.9%) and glutathione reductase (GR) (49%) increased as drought stress increased. Metabolite analyses of, for example, MDA (malondialdehyde) content (30.5%), total anthocyanin (36.3%), flavonoid content (26%) and phenolic content (29.5%) increased as drought progressed. We also performed protein profiling of the two varieties using SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl-sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis) to differentiate the expression analysis of the two varieties. Full article
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21 pages, 2358 KiB  
Article
Field Screening of Lentil (Lens culinaris) for High-Temperature Tolerance
by Audrey J. Delahunty, Jason D. Brand and James G. Nuttall
Agronomy 2023, 13(7), 1753; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13071753 - 28 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1302
Abstract
Lentil production in arable, Mediterranean-type climates is limited by acute high temperature (HT) commonly occurring during the reproductive stage. With changing climate and greater weather extremes, there is a need to increase the HT tolerance of lentil to sustain production, and global germplasm [...] Read more.
Lentil production in arable, Mediterranean-type climates is limited by acute high temperature (HT) commonly occurring during the reproductive stage. With changing climate and greater weather extremes, there is a need to increase the HT tolerance of lentil to sustain production, and global germplasm provides adaptation opportunities. The current study assessed 81 genotypes for HT tolerance from a range of global climatic zones. Field screening of germplasm was undertaken over two consecutive years (2014 and 2015), in southern Australia, using a late-sowing approach, which included a subset of 22 genotypes that were screened in both years. Partially shaded temperature treatments within a split-plot arrangement were used to generate two different HT profiles. Stress indices, i.e., the yield stability index (YSI), the stress tolerance index (STI), and a third proposed high-temperature tolerance index (HTTI), were applied to rank the HT tolerance of germplasm. In 2014, under field conditions associated with natural temperature ranges that were favorable for screening, the following five landraces with increased temperature tolerance were identified: AGG 73838, AGG 70118, AGG 70951, AGG 70156, and AGG 70549. Among the 10 commercial varieties tested, one variety (i.e., cv. Nipper) was observed to have HT tolerance. For the YSI, which had the greatest amount of consistency in response across the 2 years (11 of the 22 genotypes), there were two genotypes (AGG 71457 and Nipper) which maintained their yield stability. These results demonstrate the opportunity that germplasm provides to improve the adaptation of lentil to HT. Ultimately, the late-sowing approach is one possible methodology to integrate into contemporary breeding programs for improving adaptation of lentil within Mediterranean-type environments. Full article
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