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Innovative Biotech Approaches in Legume Crop Improvement
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Innovative Biotech Approaches in Legume Crop Improvement

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Genetics, Genomics and Biotechnology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 July 2026 | Viewed by 1941

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Dario Paolo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Research Council—Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology (CNR-IBBA), Via Edoardo Bassini 15, 20133 Milano, Italy
Interests: transcriptional regulation; plant biotechnologies; food science
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I hope this communication finds you well. I am writing to enthusiastically invite you, as a dedicated member of our scientific community, to contribute your valuable insights and research to an upcoming Special Issue of Plants, titled “Innovative Biotech Approaches in Legume Crop Improvement”.

Legume crops are fundamental in global agriculture, providing essential proteins and nutrients for human and animal consumption. Moreover, they play a critical role in sustainable agricultural systems thanks to their ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen and improve soil health. However, work to improve legume crops faces numerous challenges, including abiotic stresses, susceptibility to pests and diseases, and the need for enhanced nutritional qualities and yield potential.

To address these challenges, innovative biotechnological approaches are being developed to enhance legume crop resilience, productivity, and nutritional value. This Special Issue will showcase research and review articles focusing on advanced molecular breeding, CRISPR/Cas-mediated gene editing, genomics-assisted selection, transcriptomics, proteomics, and other emerging technologies. We particularly encourage submissions that explore the integration of these tools into conventional breeding practices to achieve sustainable improvements in legume crops.

We are excited to receive your manuscripts and look forward to reading your valuable contributions, which will be instrumental in advancing legume crop research and promoting sustainable agriculture.

Sincerely,

Dr. Dario Paolo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • legume crops
  • biotechnology
  • gene editing
  • molecular breeding
  • genomics
  • transcriptomics
  • proteomics
  • crop improvement
  • sustainable agriculture
  • abiotic stress tolerance

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

22 pages, 1609 KB  
Article
Characterization of Genetic Diversity and Genomic Prediction of Secondary Metabolites in Pea Genetic Resources
by Stefano Zanotto, Nelson Nazzicari, Gesine Schmidt, Ulrike Böcker, Francesca Vurro, Antonella Pasqualone, Anne Kjersti Uhlen and Paolo Annicchiarico
Plants 2026, 15(3), 357; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants15030357 - 23 Jan 2026
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 615
Abstract
This study aimed to assess the variation, genetic architecture, and genome-enabled prediction of traits with nutritional and health relevance in 156 pea (Pisum sativum L.) accessions of diverse geographic origins. The traits included the total phenolic compounds (TPCs), two saponins (Ssβg, Ss1), [...] Read more.
This study aimed to assess the variation, genetic architecture, and genome-enabled prediction of traits with nutritional and health relevance in 156 pea (Pisum sativum L.) accessions of diverse geographic origins. The traits included the total phenolic compounds (TPCs), two saponins (Ssβg, Ss1), sucrose, three raffinose-family oligosaccharides (RFOs), and the in vitro antioxidant activity (AA). An analysis of variance revealed significant effects of regional germplasm pools for all traits. Accessions from West Asia showed the highest TPC and AA levels, while those from the East Balkans and the UK displayed the lowest values. High saponin and RFO concentrations characterized accessions from Germany and the UK. Correlation and PCA analyses highlighted strong associations within compound classes and an overall negative relationship between TPCs/AA and saponins/RFOs. The accessions were clustered into seven metabolically distinct groups, partially reflecting their geographic origin. The linkage disequilibrium decayed rapidly (average of 4.7 kb). A GWAS based on 10,249 SNP markers identified 37 significant SNPs, 35 within annotated genes, associated with the metabolites, indicating a polygenic genetic architecture. Genomic prediction models showed a moderately high predictive ability (>0.40) for all traits except the raffinose content. Our findings can support line selection and the identification of genetic resources with a desired level of secondary metabolites. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Biotech Approaches in Legume Crop Improvement)
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16 pages, 3288 KB  
Article
Peas in Rouge: Tyrosine Supplementation Enhances RUBY Reporter Visibility in Pisum sativum
by Veronika Simonova, Elina Potsenkovskaia, Nikolai Kozlov, Alexandra Vanina, Elena Efremova, Kirill Smirnov, Anastasia Artemiuk, Anna Kiseleva, Anna Brynchikova, Zakhar Konstantinov and Varvara Tvorogova
Plants 2025, 14(24), 3719; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14243719 - 5 Dec 2025
Viewed by 921
Abstract
Genome modification of legumes, peas in particular, is accompanied by significant challenges. Establishing a reliable reporter system to identify tissue that expresses foreign DNA may help to optimize and develop transformation protocols for these species. The RUBY system, based on the synthesis of [...] Read more.
Genome modification of legumes, peas in particular, is accompanied by significant challenges. Establishing a reliable reporter system to identify tissue that expresses foreign DNA may help to optimize and develop transformation protocols for these species. The RUBY system, based on the synthesis of red betalain from tyrosine, offers a convenient solution for monitoring the efficiency of transgene introduction. To evaluate the effectiveness of RUBY application in pea tissue culture, we combined agrobacterial transformation with an in vitro cultivation system, inducing callus development. Transformed explants demonstrated RUBY pigmentation, but it disappeared during cultivation. We hypothesized that this issue is caused by tyrosine depletion. To check this suggestion, we tested whether tyrosine supplementation could maintain RUBY coloring. In the later stages, pigmentation still could not be preserved. However, our modified conditions increased the percent of colored shoot apex explants during the early cultivation stages. Thus, it is likely that some explants transformed with the RUBY cassette do not synthesize a sufficient amount of betalain due to the deficit of endogenous tyrosine. In this case, adding exogenous tyrosine would enhance betalain production and improve the detectability of tissues containing the RUBY cassette. These data can be used for the optimization of RUBY application conditions for peas and other species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovative Biotech Approaches in Legume Crop Improvement)
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