Common Vetch: A Drought Tolerant, High Protein Neglected Leguminous Crop With Potential as a Sustainable Food Source

Abstract

Global demand for protein is predicted to increase by 50% by 2050. To meet the increasing demand whilst ensuring sustainability, protein sources that generate low-greenhouse gas emissions are required, and protein-rich legume seeds have the potential to make a significant contribution. Legumes like common vetch (Vicia sativa) that grow in marginal cropping zones and are drought tolerant and resilient to changeable annual weather patterns, will be in high demand as the climate changes. In common vetch, the inability to eliminate the γ-glutamyl-β-cyano-alanine (GBCA) toxin present in the seed has hindered its utility as a human and animal food for many decades, leaving this highly resilient species an "orphan" legume. However, the availability of the vetch genome and transcriptome data together with the application of CRISPR-Cas genome editing technologies lay the foundations to eliminate the GBCA toxin constraint. In the near future, we anticipate that a zero-toxin vetch variety will become a significant contributor to global protein demand.

Genome Survey Sequencing of Common Vetch (Vicia Sativa L.) and Genetic Diversity Analysis of Chinese Germplasm with Genomic SSR Markers

“…Common vetch (Vicia sativa L.), with excellent drought and cold tolerance, could be exploited to cope with the requirements of humans and livestock [5,8]. However, the high r-glutamyl-b-cyano-alanine (GBCA) content in common vetch seeds has restricted its application in agriculture, and the traditional strategies have failed to breed common vetch with no GBCA [4].…”

“…In addition, common vetch can also be used as a green manure crop on idle farmland due to its strong ability to x nitrogen [3]. Moreover, following with the increasing global population and plantbased protein demands, common vetch could be exploited as a future potential protein source due to its widely adaption in marginal cropping zones with severe drought and cold conditions [4].…”

Significant cell differences in pod ventral suture in shatter‐resistant and shatter‐susceptible common vetch accessions

“…Common vetch has the potential to be an important self‐pollinating annual forage legume and, currently, is mostly used as forage or brown manure (Abbasi, Sarvestani, Mohammadi, & Baghery, 2014, Chung, Kim, Suresh, Lee, & Cho, 2013, Nguyen, Riley, Nagel, Fisk, & Searle, 2020). Common vetch is widely grown in Europe, the Middle East, Australia, South America, New Zealand, the Qinghai–Tibet plateau of China, and other parts of the world (Dong, Jahufer, Dong, Wang, & Liu, 2016b; Kim et al., 2015; Liu, Liu, Luo, Liu, & Wang, 2014).…”

Identification of novel drought-responsive miRNA regulatory network of drought stress response in common vetch (Vicia sativa)

“…Common vetch, being a drought-tolerant forage, can be grown in marginal zones, which presents great potential as a sustainable forage source [ 11 ]. Drought is a common environmental stress that negatively affects plant growth leading to excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) [ 12 ].…”