A Comprehensive Review on Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Breeding for Abiotic Stress Tolerance and Climate Change Resilience

Abstract

Chickpea is one of the most important pulse crops worldwide, being an excellent source of protein. It is grown under rain-fed conditions averaging yields of 1 t/ha, far from its potential of 6 t/ha under optimum conditions. The combined effects of heat, cold, drought, and salinity affect species productivity. In this regard, several physiological, biochemical, and molecular mechanisms are reviewed to confer tolerance to abiotic stress. A large collection of nearly 100,000 chickpea accessions is the basis of breeding programs, and important advances have been achieved through conventional breeding, such as germplasm introduction, gene/allele introgression, and mutagenesis. In parallel, advances in molecular biology and high-throughput sequencing have allowed the development of specific molecular markers for the genus Cicer, facilitating marker-assisted selection for yield components and abiotic tolerance. Further, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics have permitted the identification of specific genes, proteins, and metabolites associated with tolerance to abiotic stress of chickpea. Furthermore, some promising results have been obtained in studies with transgenic plants and with the use of gene editing to obtain drought-tolerant chickpea. Finally, we propose some future lines of research that may be useful to obtain chickpea genotypes tolerant to abiotic stress in a scenario of climate change.

Chasmophyte associated stress tolerant bacteria confer drought resilience to chickpea through efficient nutrient mining and modulation of stress response

“…Drought can reduce the germination, photosynthetic activity, translocation of assimilates and reproductive functions. Water stress during reproductive stage can reduce the chickpea yield by 50% 2 . Considerable efforts have been made to develop drought tolerant varieties which however, require a long time.…”

“…Chickpea is one of the most important pulse crops of the Indian subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bang Ladesh, Myanmar, and Nepal), contributing > 70% of the global production 2 . This important legume is mainly grown under rain-fed conditions and due to insufficient and erratic rainfall, water limitation becomes a major challenge during its life cycle.…”

Zinc finger knuckle genes are associated with tolerance to drought and dehydration in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

“…Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important food legume in many countries due to high levels of seed proteins and high nutrient value (Didinger and Thompson, 2022;Koul et al, 2022). The chickpea plant shows a degree of tolerance to several abiotic stresses, including drought, dehydration, heat, and salinity, making it a versatile crop plant (Arriagada et al, 2022;Asati et al, 2022;Karalija et al, 2022). However, there is room for development of new chickpea cultivars with improved growth in harsh environments, higher yield, and better seed quality (Eker et al, 2022a, Eker et al, 2022b.…”

Exploring Resistant Sources of Chickpea against Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. ciceris in Dryland Areas

“…This crop is cultivated mainly in the Middle East, Central and South Asia, the Mediterranean basin, East Africa, North America, and Australia [1]. Chickpea is a cheap and valuable source of protein (16.7-30.6%), especially for people in developing countries or for people following a vegetarian diet [2]. It also contains high quantities of lipids, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, and non-nutritive health-beneficial compounds such as phenolics, tannins, sterols, and saponins [3].…”