Legume Genomics and Genetics 2025, Vol.16, No.3, 100-107 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/lgg 100 Feature Review Open Access Genetic Diversity of Legume Germplasm Resources and Their Application in High-Yield Breeding Chunxia Wu, Weiguo Lu, Lijun Qiu Modern Agricultural Research Center, Cuixi Academy of Biotechnology, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China Corresponding email: lijun.qiu@cuixi.org Legume Genomics and Genetics, 2025 Vol.16, No.3 doi: 10.5376/lgg.2025.16.0011 Received: 02 Mar., 2025 Accepted: 18 Apr., 2025 Published: 05 May, 2025 Copyright © 2025 Wu et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Wu C.X., Liu W.G., and Qiu L.J., 2025, Genetic diversity of legume germplasm resources and their application in high-yield breeding, Legume Genomics and Genetics, 16(3): 100-107 (doi: 10.5376/lgg.2025.16.0011) Abstract As an important food and feed resource, legume crops play an important role in ensuring food security, improving soil fertility and promoting sustainable agricultural development. Rich germplasm resources provide a key genetic basis for high-yield breeding of legumes. This study systematically sorted out the diversity characteristics of the current main germplasm resources of legumes, covering their geographical distribution, phenotypic variation and genetic background, and focused on analyzing important agronomic traits related to high yield, such as pod number, grain weight, stress resistance and nitrogen fixation ability. It further explored the specific application paths of diversity resources in modern breeding, including the introduction of excellent alleles, the development of pre-breeding materials, and the integration of marker-assisted selection and genomic selection technology. At the same time, the actual value of diversity germplasm in improving breeding efficiency and yield performance was explained through typical high-yield breeding cases. Fully exploring and accurately utilizing the genetic diversity of legumes is one of the core strategies to promote high-yield, stable yield and green development of legumes. This study hopes to provide theoretical support and practical reference for the construction of efficient breeding systems and the creation of new germplasm in the future. Keywords Germplasm diversity; Legume crops; High-yield breeding; Trait improvement; Molecular breeding techniques 1 Introduction Legumes are very important in global agriculture. They contribute about 27% of global food production (Coyne et al., 2020). A large part of the protein people eat comes from legumes. Legumes are also a component of many animal feeds. Legumes also have a very practical function. They can "move" nitrogen from the air into the soil. This ability makes the soil more fertile and is very helpful for agriculture. This is especially important in areas where fertilizers are scarce, resources are scarce, or people are malnourished (Smýkal et al., 2015). There are many germplasm resources of legumes, including excellent varieties, local varieties and wild relatives. These resources contain a large number of different genes. They can provide "good genes" required for important traits such as drought resistance, disease resistance and high yield. These genes are particularly helpful for breeding new varieties with strong stress resistance and high yield (Sharma et al., 2013; Coyne et al., 2020; Rajpal et al., 2023). Now, scientists use these valuable genes in breeding through gene introgression, pre-breeding, and genomic technology. This will enable the breeding of leguminous crops with greater adaptability and better traits (Dwivedi et al., 2017; Pratap et al., 2021). This study will systematically analyze legume germplasm diversity to identify and utilize genetic resources that can drive high-yield breeding. This includes evaluating and utilizing functional diversity, discovering new alleles and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with yield and stress resistance, and integrating them into breeding programs using modern genomics and phenotyping tools. By leveraging the full range of genetic variation, this study hopes to optimize breeding strategies and breed legume varieties that meet the needs of the global food system, address climate change challenges, and promote sustainable agricultural productivity.
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