Legume Genomics and Genetics 2025, Vol.16, No.3, 100-107 http://cropscipublisher.com/index.php/lgg 103 5 Case Studies in High-Yield Legume Breeding 5.1 Soybean: Chinese landraces for elite yield traits China has a wide variety of soybean local varieties and rich genetic diversity. These varieties contain some unique and excellent genes that are very helpful in increasing yields. Introducing them into breeding projects can find and utilize these useful traits, while also expanding the source of genes for breeding. Studies have found that if local varieties and wild soybeans can be used for pre-breeding, combined with genomic tools, it can help soybeans break through the yield bottleneck and further improve breeding results (Figure 1) (Singh et al., 2022; Rubiales, 2023). Figure 1 Integrated approaches for accelerating trait introgression and achieving higher genetic gain in legumes (Adopted from Singh et al., 2022) Image caption: (A) high-throughput phenotyping (SPAD-meter, green seeker, prostrate tester, junior PAM, drones, scanners, IRGA, etc.) to take full advantage of large-scale genomic data sets built by next-generation sequencing (NGS) tools; (B) bringing genomic tools like, marker-assisted selection (MAS), marker-assisted backcrossing (MABC), advanced backcross quantitative trait loci mapping (AB-QTL), marker-assisted recurrent selection (MARS), genomic selection (GS), and genome wide association studies (GWAS) to identify and introgress desirable genes or QTLs into legumes with high efficacy; (C) biotechnology (gene gun, particle bombardment, microinjection, and Agrobacterium) mediated transformation of alien genes to produce pest, disease and herbicide resilient transgenic crops; (D) dialling physiology of plants with protracted photoperiod, elevated temperature and CO2 coupled with immature seed harvest to accelerate generation advancement; (E) developing tailor-made crop varieties by using haplotype-based breeding; (F) targeted genome editing using meganucleases, zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPRs) to produce non-transgenic, genome edited crops (Adopted from Singh et al., 2022) 5.2 Cowpea: enhancing productivity under drought-prone regions In cowpea breeding, scientists used the genetic differences between wild relatives and local varieties to improve cowpea yield and adaptability in arid areas. They first did pre-breeding and slowly introduced drought-tolerant traits. Gradually, they selected varieties that could maintain stable yields even in water-scarce environments. This breeding method is particularly useful in areas with a lot of climate change and common droughts. Now, new technologies such as genomics, phenomics, and rapid breeding have also been added. These methods make breeding faster and the selected varieties more reliable (Varshney et al., 2018; Singh et al., 2022). 5.3 Faba bean: cold-adaptive lines improving yield in temperate zones In broad bean breeding, breeders selected cold-resistant strains so that broad beans can produce high yields in areas with lower temperatures. These cold-resistant and variable maturity genetic resources not only increase
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