Search Results (6)

Salinity tolerance was studied in chickpea accessions from a germplasm collection and in cultivars from Kazakhstan. After NaCl treatment, significant differences were found between genotypes, which could be arranged into three groups. Those that performed poorest were found in group 1, comprising five ICC accessions with the lowest chlorophyll content, the highest leaf necrosis (LN), Na⁺ accumulation, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and a low glutathione ratio GSH/GSSG. Two cultivars, Privo-1 and Tassay, representing group 2, were moderate in these traits, while the best performance was for group 3, containing two other cultivars, Krasnokutsky-123 and Looch, which were found to have mostly green plants and an exact opposite pattern of traits. Marker–trait association (MTA) between 6K DArT markers and four traits (LN, Na⁺, MDA, and GSH/GSSG) revealed the presence of four possible candidate genes in the chickpea genome that may be associated with the three groups. One gene, ATP-binding cassette, CaABCC6, was selected, and three haplotypes, A, D1, and D2, were identified in plants from the three groups. Two of the most salt-tolerant cultivars from group 3 were found to have haplotype D2 with a novel identified SNP. RT-qPCR analysis confirmed that this gene was strongly expressed after NaCl treatment in the parental- and breeding-line plants of haplotype D2. Mass spectrometry of seed proteins showed a higher accumulation of glutathione reductase and S-transferase, but not peroxidase, in the D2 haplotype. In conclusion, the CaABCC6 gene was hypothesized to be associated with a better response to oxidative stress via glutathione metabolism, while other candidate genes are likely involved in the control of chlorophyll content and Na⁺ accumulation. Full article

Genetic diversity and marker–trait association with yield-related components were assessed in 39 chickpea accessions from a germplasm collection with either spring or autumn-sown seeds in South-Eastern Kazakhstan. Chickpea accessions originated from Azerbaijan, Germany, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Russia, Türkiye, Ukraine, Syria, and the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Eleven SSR markers were used for molecular genotyping. Yield and yield components were evaluated in nine traits in experiments with spring and autumn seed sowing. The number of alleles of polymorphic markers varied from 2 to 11. The greatest polymorphism was found in the studied chickpea genotypes using SSR marker TA22 (11 alleles), while NCPGR6 and NCPGR12 markers were monomorphic. In the studied chickpea accessions, unique alleles of the SSR loci TA14, TA46, TA76s, and TA142 were found that were not previously described by other authors. An analysis of correlation relationships between yield-related traits in chickpea revealed the dependence of yield on plant height, branching, and the setting of a large number of beans. These traits showed maximal values in experiments with chickpea plants from autumn seed sowing. An analysis of the relationship between the SSR markers applied and morphological yield-related traits revealed several informative markers associated with important traits, such as plant height, height to first pod, number of branches, number of productive nodes, number of pods per plant, hundred seed weight, seed weight per plant, and seed yield. Full article

The collection and conservation of chickpea and lentil germplasm has great importance due to their role as a staple food for millions of people. Nowadays, the largest chickpea collection, 41.2% of the total accessions, is held by ICRISAT, while the main lentil collection is stored by ICARDA. The main fraction of both collections is constituted by Indian landraces. In recent decades, several efforts have been made to integrate all genebanks into a global conservation system of plant genetic resources. The release of informatics platforms allowed the creation of virtual genebanks, which are powerful tools routinely consulted by germplasm users. The information available for the chickpea and lentil accessions included in the Genesys and EURISCO platforms has been taken into consideration in this mini review. This review also presents and discusses the strengths and drawbacks of the worldwide collections of both species emerging from the analysis of data obtained by enquiring these two platforms. The availability of core collections is of great utility for germplasm users, while the lack of origin and biological status for a significant fraction of accessions are the main drawbacks. Moreover, this review highlights the necessity of sharing as much as possible of the non-omic and omic characterization data. Full article

The rich genetic diversity existing within exotic, indigenous, and diverse germplasm lays the foundation for the continuous improvement of crop cultivars. The composite collection has been suggested as a gateway to identifying superior germplasm for use in crop improvement programs. Here, a chickpea global composite collection was evaluated at five locations in India over two years for five agronomic traits to identify agronomically superior accessions. The desi, kabuli, and intermediate types of chickpea accessions differed significantly for plant height (PLHT) and 100-seed weight (100 SW). In contrast, the intermediate type differed substantially from kabuli for days to maturity (DM). Several highly significant trait correlations were detected across different locations. The most stable and promising accessions from each of the five locations were prioritised based on their superior performance over the best-performing check cultivar. Accordingly, the selected germplasm accessions of desi type showed up to 176% higher seed yield (SY), 29% lower flowering time, 21% fewer maturity days, 64% increase in PLHT, and 183% larger seeds than the check cultivar JG11 or Annigeri. The prioritised kabuli accessions displayed up to 270% more yield, 13% less flowering time, 8% fewer maturity days, 111% increase in PLHT, and 41% larger seeds over the check cultivar KAK2. While the intermediate type accessions had up to 169% better yield, 1% early flowering, 3% early maturity, 54% taller plants, and 25% bigger seeds over the check cultivar JG 11 or KAK2. These accessions can be utilised in chickpea improvement programs to develop high-yielding, early flowering, short duration, taller, and large-seeded varieties with a broad genetic base. Full article

Chickpea is one of the most important pulse crops worldwide, being an excellent source of protein. It is grown under rain-fed conditions averaging yields of 1 t/ha, far from its potential of 6 t/ha under optimum conditions. The combined effects of heat, cold, drought, and salinity affect species productivity. In this regard, several physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms are reviewed to confer tolerance to abiotic stress. A large collection of nearly 100,000 chickpea accessions is the basis of breeding programs, and important advances have been achieved through conventional breeding, such as germplasm introduction, gene/allele introgression, and mutagenesis. In parallel, advances in molecular biology and high-throughput sequencing have allowed the development of specific molecular markers for the genus Cicer, facilitating marker-assisted selection for yield components and abiotic tolerance. Further, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics have permitted the identification of specific genes, proteins, and metabolites associated with tolerance to abiotic stress of chickpea. Furthermore, some promising results have been obtained in studies with transgenic plants and with the use of gene editing to obtain drought-tolerant chickpea. Finally, we propose some future lines of research that may be useful to obtain chickpea genotypes tolerant to abiotic stress in a scenario of climate change. Full article

Global climate change has caused severe crop yield losses worldwide and is endangering food security in the future. The impact of climate change on food production is high in Australia and globally. Climate change is projected to have a negative impact on crop production. Chickpea is a cool season legume crop mostly grown on residual soil moisture. High temperature and terminal drought are common in different regions of chickpea production with varying intensities and frequencies. Therefore, stable chickpea production will depend on the release of new cultivars with improved adaptation to major events such as drought and high temperature. Recent progress in chickpea breeding has increased the efficiency of assessing genetic diversity in germplasm collections. This review provides an overview of the integration of new approaches and tools into breeding programs and their impact on the development of stress tolerance in chickpea. Full article