Main conclusion Bambara groundnut has the potential to be used to contribute more the climate change ready agriculture. The requirement for nitrogen fixing, stress tolerant legumes is clear, particularly in low input agriculture. However, ensuring that existing negative traits are tackled and demand is stimulated through the development of markets and products still represents a challenge to making greater use of this legume.

Rapid population growth, climate change, intensive monoculture farming, and resource depletion are among the challenges that threaten the increasingly vulnerable global agri-food system. Heavy reliance on a few major crops is also linked to a monotonous diet, poor dietary habits, and micronutrient deficiencies, which are often associated with diet-related diseases. Diversification—of both agricultural production systems and diet—is a practical and sustainable approach to address these challenges and to improve global food and nutritional security. This strategy is aligned with the recommendations from the EAT-Lancet report, which highlighted the urgent need for increased consumption of plant-based foods to sustain population and planetary health. Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.), an underutilized African legume, has the potential to contribute to improved food and nutrition security, while providing solutions for environmental sustainability and equity in food availability and affordability. This paper discusses the potential role of Bambara groundnut in diversifying agri-food systems and contributing to enhanced dietary and planetary sustainability, with emphasis on areas that span the value chain: from genetics, agroecology, nutrition, processing, and utilization, through to its socioeconomic potential. Bambara groundnut is a sustainable, low-cost source of complex carbohydrates, plant-based protein, unsaturated fatty acids, and essential minerals (magnesium, iron, zinc, and potassium), especially for those living in arid and semi-arid regions. As a legume, Bambara groundnut fixes atmospheric nitrogen to improve soil fertility. It is resilient to adverse environmental conditions and can yield on poor soil. Despite its impressive nutritional and agroecological profile, the potential of Bambara groundnut in improving the global food system is undermined by several factors, including resource limitation, knowledge gap, social stigma, and lack of policy incentives. Multiple research efforts to address these hurdles have led to a more promising outlook for Bambara groundnut; however, there is an urgent need to continue research to realize its full potential.

BackgroundBambara groundnut [Vigna subterranea (L) Verdc.] is an indigenous legume crop grown mainly in subsistence and small-scale agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa for its nutritious seeds and its tolerance to drought and poor soils. Given that the lack of ex ante sequence is often a bottleneck in marker-assisted crop breeding for minor and underutilised crops, we demonstrate the use of limited genetic information and resources developed within species, but linked to the well characterised common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) genome sequence and the partially annotated closely related species; adzuki bean (Vigna angularis) and mung bean (Vigna radiata). From these comparisons we identify conserved synteny blocks corresponding to the Linkage Groups (LGs) in bambara groundnut genetic maps and evaluate the potential to identify genes in conserved syntenic locations in a sequenced genome that underlie a QTL position in the underutilised crop genome.ResultsTwo individual intraspecific linkage maps consisting of DArTseq markers were constructed in two bambara groundnut (2n = 2x = 22) segregating populations: 1) The genetic map of Population IA was derived from F2 lines (n = 263; IITA686 x Ankpa4) and covered 1,395.2 cM across 11 linkage groups; 2) The genetic map of Population TD was derived from F3 lines (n = 71; Tiga Nicuru x DipC) and covered 1,376.7 cM across 11 linkage groups. A total of 96 DArTseq markers from an initial pool of 142 pre-selected common markers were used. These were not only polymorphic in both populations but also each marker could be located using the unique sequence tag (at selected stringency) onto the common bean, adzuki bean and mung bean genomes, thus allowing the sequenced genomes to be used as an initial ‘pseudo’ physical map for bambara groundnut. A good correspondence was observed at the macro synteny level, particularly to the common bean genome. A test using the QTL location of an agronomic trait in one of the bambara groundnut maps allowed the corresponding flanking positions to be identified in common bean, mung bean and adzuki bean, demonstrating the possibility of identifying potential candidate genes underlying traits of interest through the conserved syntenic physical location of QTL in the well annotated genomes of closely related species.ConclusionsThe approach of adding pre-selected common markers in both populations before genetic map construction has provided a translational framework for potential identification of candidate genes underlying a QTL of trait of interest in bambara groundnut by linking the positions of known genetic effects within the underutilised species to the physical maps of other well-annotated legume species, without the need for an existing whole genome sequence of the study species. Identifying the conserved synteny between underutilised species without complete genome sequences and the genomes of major crops and model species with genetic and trait data is an important step in the translation of resources and information from major crop and model spec...

The morphology, ecology, and phylogenetic relationships of specimens of the family Boletaceae from subtropical and tropical China were investigated. Four species, Butyriboletushuangnianlaii, Lanmaoamacrocarpa, Neoboletusmultipunctatus, and Sutoriussubrufus, are new to science. Chalciporusradiatus and Caloboletusxiangtoushanensis are redescribed. Caloboletusguanyui is proposed to replace Boletusquercinus Hongo, an illegitimate later homonym. The recently described Tylopiluscallainus is synonymized with the Japanese Boletusvirescens, and the new combination T.virescens (Har. Takah. & Taneyama) N.K. Zeng et al. is proposed. Moreover, Neoboletus is treated as an independent genus based on evidence from morphology and molecular phylogenetic data in the present study, and many previously described taxa of Sutorius are recombined into Neoboletus: N.ferrugineus (G. Wu et al.) N.K. Zeng et al., N.flavidus (G. Wu & Zhu L. Yang) N.K. Zeng et al., N.hainanensis (T.H. Li & M. Zang) N.K. Zeng et al., N.obscureumbrinus (Hongo) N.K. Zeng et al., N.rubriporus (G. Wu & Zhu L. Yang) N.K. Zeng et al., N.sanguineoides (G. Wu & Zhu L. Yang) N.K. Zeng et al. , N.sanguineus (G. Wu & Zhu L. Yang) N.K. Zeng et al., and N.tomentulosus (M. Zang et al.) N.K. Zeng et al.

Main conclusion Crops For the Future (CFF), as an entity, has established a broad range of research activities to promote the improvement and adoption of currently underutilised crops.