Prioritization of Physio-Biochemical Selection Indices and Yield-Attributing Traits toward the Acquisition of Drought Tolerance in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.).

Chickpea is widely grown in rainfed areas of developing countries because of its nutritional abundance and adaptability. To overcome the environmental effect of drought on yield, a characteristic-linked selection strategy is proved as well-thought-out and advantageous for the development of drought-tolerant cultivars. To precisely understand the contribution of various physio-biochemical and yield-attributing traits toward drought tolerance in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), forty chickpea genotypes were evaluated in the years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 under normal irrigated as well as drought-stressed conditions. Among the studied genotypes, genotype ICC4958 retained the highest chl content (0.55 mg g-1 FW), minimal electrolyte leakage, and superoxide dismutase (1.48 U/mg FW) and peroxidase (2.21 µmol/min/g FW) activities while cultivar JG11 maintained the maximum relative water content and proline accumulation. The principal-component-based biplots prioritized the physio-biochemical and yield-accrediting characteristics based on their association significance and contribution to terminal drought tolerance. Under drought stress, grain yield per plant was depicted to have a strongly positive association with canopy temperature depression, catalase, superoxide dismutase, and peroxidase activities as well as total soluble sugar, proline, and chlorophyll content, along with the numbers of pods and biological yield per plant. These identified physio-biochemical and yield-attributing traits can be further deployed to select drought-tolerant chickpea genotypes for the breeding of climate-smart chickpea genotypes.

Genome Editing and Improvement of Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Crop Plants.

Genome editing aims to revolutionise plant breeding and could assist in safeguarding the global food supply. The inclusion of a 12-40 bp recognition site makes mega nucleases the first tools utilized for genome editing and first generation gene-editing tools. Zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs) are the second gene-editing technique, and because they create double-stranded breaks, they are more dependable and effective. ZFNs were the original designed nuclease-based approach of genome editing. The Cys2-His2 zinc finger domain's discovery made this technique possible. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) are utilized to improve genetics, boost biomass production, increase nutrient usage efficiency, and develop disease resistance. Plant genomes can be effectively modified using genome-editing technologies to enhance characteristics without introducing foreign DNA into the genome. Next-generation plant breeding will soon be defined by these exact breeding methods. There is abroad promise that genome-edited crops will be essential in the years to come for improving the sustainability and climate-change resilience of food systems. This method also has great potential for enhancing crops' resistance to various abiotic stressors. In this review paper, we summarize the most recent findings about the mechanism of abiotic stress response in crop plants and the use of the CRISPR/Cas mediated gene-editing systems to improve tolerance to stresses including drought, salinity, cold, heat, and heavy metals.

Molecular Advances to Combat Different Biotic and Abiotic Stresses in Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.): A Comprehensive Review.

Flax, or linseed, is considered a "superfood", which means that it is a food with diverse health benefits and potentially useful bioactive ingredients. It is a multi-purpose crop that is prized for its seed oil, fibre, nutraceutical, and probiotic qualities. It is suited to various habitats and agro-ecological conditions. Numerous abiotic and biotic stressors that can either have a direct or indirect impact on plant health are experienced by flax plants as a result of changing environmental circumstances. Research on the impact of various stresses and their possible ameliorators is prompted by such expectations. By inducing the loss of specific alleles and using a limited number of selected varieties, modern breeding techniques have decreased the overall genetic variability required for climate-smart agriculture. However, gene banks have well-managed collectionns of landraces, wild linseed accessions, and auxiliary Linum species that serve as an important source of novel alleles. In the past, flax-breeding techniques were prioritised, preserving high yield with other essential traits. Applications of molecular markers in modern breeding have made it easy to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for various agronomic characteristics. The genetic diversity of linseed species and the evaluation of their tolerance to abiotic stresses, including drought, salinity, heavy metal tolerance, and temperature, as well as resistance to biotic stress factors, viz., rust, wilt, powdery mildew, and alternaria blight, despite addressing various morphotypes and the value of linseed as a supplement, are the primary topics of this review.

Breeding and Genomic Approaches towards Development of Fusarium Wilt Resistance in Chickpea.

Chickpea is an important leguminous crop with potential to provide dietary proteins to both humans and animals. It also ameliorates soil nitrogen through biological nitrogen fixation. The crop is affected by an array of biotic and abiotic factors. Among different biotic stresses, a major fungal disease called Fusarium wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris (FOC), is responsible for low productivity in chickpea. To date, eight pathogenic races of FOC (race 0, 1A, and 1B/C, 2-6) have been reported worldwide. The development of resistant cultivars using different conventional breeding methods is very time consuming and depends upon the environment. Modern technologies can improve conventional methods to solve these major constraints. Understanding the molecular response of chickpea to Fusarium wilt can help to provide effective management strategies. The identification of molecular markers closely linked to genes/QTLs has provided great potential for chickpea improvement programs. Moreover, omics approaches, including transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics give scientists a vast viewpoint of functional genomics. In this review, we will discuss the integration of all available strategies and provide comprehensive knowledge about chickpea plant defense against Fusarium wilt.

Molecular Breeding to Overcome Biotic Stresses in Soybean: Update.

Soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) is an important leguminous crop and biotic stresses are a global concern for soybean growers. In recent decades, significant development has been carried outtowards identification of the diseases caused by pathogens, sources of resistance and determination of loci conferring resistance to different diseases on linkage maps of soybean. Host-plant resistance is generally accepted as the bestsolution because of its role in the management of environmental and economic conditions of farmers owing to low input in terms of chemicals. The main objectives of soybean crop improvement are based on the identification of sources of resistance or tolerance against various biotic as well as abiotic stresses and utilization of these sources for further hybridization and transgenic processes for development of new cultivars for stress management. The focus of the present review is to summarize genetic aspects of various diseases caused by pathogens in soybean and molecular breeding research work conducted to date.