Multi Technology Testing Centre and Vocational Training Centre, CAEPHT, CAU, Ranipool, Gangtok, Sikkim, 737135, India.
ICAR-RC-NEH, Sikkim Centre, Tadong, Sikkim, 737102, India.
Planta. 2022 Jun 29;256(2):24. doi: 10.1007/s00425-022-03923-1.
Legumes, being angiosperm's third-largest family as well as the second major crop family, contributes beyond 33% of human dietary proteins. The advent of the global food crisis owing to major climatic concerns leads to nutritional deprivation, hunger and hidden hunger especially in developing and underdeveloped nations. Hence, in the wake of promoting sustainable agriculture and nutritional security, apart from the popular legumes, the inclusion of lesser-known and understudied local crop legumes called orphan legumes in the farming systems of various tropical and sub-tropical parts of the world is indeed a need of the hour. Despite possessing tremendous potentialities, wide adaptability under diverse environmental conditions, and rich in nutritional and nutraceutical values, these species are still in a neglected and devalued state. Therefore, a major re-focusing of legume genetics, genomics, and biology is much crucial in pursuance of understanding the yield constraints, and endorsing underutilized legume breeding programs. Varying degrees of importance to these crops do exist among researchers of developing countries in establishing the role of orphan legumes as future crops. Under such circumstances, this article assembles a comprehensive note on the necessity of promoting these crops for further investigations and sustainable legume production, the exploitation of various orphan legume species and their potencies. In addition, an attempt has been made to highlight various novel genetic, molecular, and omics approaches for the improvement of such legumes for enhancing yield, minimizing the level of several anti-nutritional factors, and imparting biotic and abiotic stress tolerance. A significant genetic enhancement through extensive research in 'omics' areas is the absolute necessity to transform them into befitting candidates for large-scale popularization around the globe.
豆类是被子植物的第三大科，也是第二大作物科，为人类提供了超过 33%的膳食蛋白质。由于主要的气候问题引发了全球粮食危机，导致营养匮乏、饥饿和隐性饥饿，尤其是在发展中国家和欠发达国家。因此，在促进可持续农业和营养安全的背景下，除了广为人知的豆类之外，将鲜为人知和研究较少的本地作物豆类（称为孤儿豆类）纳入世界上各种热带和亚热带地区的农业系统中，确实是当前的迫切需求。尽管这些物种具有巨大的潜力，能够在各种环境条件下广泛适应，并且富含营养和功能性成分，但它们仍处于被忽视和低估的状态。因此，对豆类的遗传学、基因组学和生物学进行重新聚焦，对于理解产量限制以及支持利用不足的豆类育种计划至关重要。发展中国家的研究人员对这些作物的重视程度各不相同，他们在确定孤儿豆类作为未来作物的作用方面发挥着重要作用。在这种情况下，本文综合阐述了推广这些作物以进行进一步研究和可持续豆类生产的必要性，探讨了各种孤儿豆类物种的潜力和利用价值。此外，还尝试强调了各种新的遗传、分子和组学方法，以提高这些豆类的产量，降低多种抗营养因子的水平，并赋予其对生物和非生物胁迫的耐受性。通过广泛的“组学”研究进行重大的遗传改良是将它们转化为适合在全球范围内大规模推广的豆类的绝对必要条件。
