Centre for Plant Sciences, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK.
Division of Plant Sciences and National Center for Soybean Biotechnology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.
Plant Cell Environ. 2018 Sep;41(9):1949-1954. doi: 10.1111/pce.13419.
Grain legumes play a significant role in global food security. They have an advantage over cereals in that they can form symbiotic associations with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, making them self-sufficient in terms of nitrogen acquisition. In addition to this superior agronomic trait, grain legumes have excellent nutritional properties and are thus widely used as animal feed as well as in human nutrition. Current global trends towards increased legume consumption and availability of value-added products, as well as legume production in developing countries require the provision of improved cultivars with better productivity and adaptability. Intensive efforts are thus underway to elaborate genomic resources and gain an improved knowledge base in a number of legume crops. There is also an emerging understanding of the beneficial interactions between legume-associated organisms, particularly rhizobia and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which result in improved nodulation and nutrient acquisition. The emerging focus on legume breeding for high sustainable yields as well as improved biotic and abiotic stress tolerance traits will serve to close the current gap between grain legume production and demand. With the support from policymakers, this increase in knowledge can be readily translated into increased crop production to meet the demands of an increasing global population.
谷物豆类在全球食品安全中起着重要作用。它们相对于谷物具有优势，因为它们可以与固氮细菌形成共生关系，从而在获取氮方面自给自足。除了这种优越的农艺特性外，谷物豆类还具有极好的营养价值，因此被广泛用作动物饲料以及人类营养。目前，全球对豆类消费和增值产品供应的趋势呈增长态势，以及发展中国家的豆类生产，都需要提供具有更高生产力和适应性的改良品种。因此，人们正在大力阐述豆类作物的基因组资源，并在许多豆类作物中获得更好的知识库。人们也越来越了解豆科植物相关生物之间的有益相互作用，特别是根瘤菌和丛枝菌根真菌，这有助于改善结瘤和养分吸收。当前，人们越来越关注豆类的高可持续产量以及提高生物和非生物胁迫耐受性的选育，这将有助于缩小当前豆类生产与需求之间的差距。在政策制定者的支持下，这一知识的增长可以很容易地转化为作物产量的增加，以满足不断增长的全球人口的需求。
