Improving Drought Tolerance in Mungbean (Vigna radiata L. Wilczek): Morpho-Physiological, Biochemical and Molecular Perspectives

Abstract

Drought stress is considered a severe threat to crop production. It adversely affects the morpho-physiological, biochemical and molecular functions of the plants, especially in short duration crops like mungbean. In the past few decades, significant progress has been made towards enhancing climate resilience in legumes through classical and next-generation breeding coupled with omics approaches. Various defence mechanisms have been reported as key players in crop adaptation to drought stress. Many researchers have identified potential donors, QTLs/genes and candidate genes associated to drought tolerance-related traits. However, cloning and exploitation of these loci/gene(s) in breeding programmes are still limited. To bridge the gap between theoretical research and practical breeding, we need to reveal the omics-assisted genetic variations associated with drought tolerance in mungbean to tackle this stress. Furthermore, the use of wild relatives in breeding programmes for drought tolerance is also limited and needs to be focused. Even after six years of decoding the whole genome sequence of mungbean, the genome-wide characterization and expression of various gene families and transcriptional factors are still lacking. Due to the complex nature of drought tolerance, it also requires integrating high throughput multi-omics approaches to increase breeding efficiency and genomic selection for rapid genetic gains to develop drought-tolerant mungbean cultivars. This review highlights the impact of drought stress on mungbean and mitigation strategies for breeding high-yielding drought-tolerant mungbean varieties through classical and modern omics technologies.

Quantitatively Assessing the Impact of Driving Factors on Vegetation Cover Change in China’s 32 Major Cities

“…Inside the city, increased CO 2 concentrations cause the greenhouse effect, which leads to increased temperature and accelerated soil water evaporation. Under such conditions, the growth of vegetation is mainly affected by soil water [23,24].…”

Physiological, biochemical and molecular evaluation of mungbean genotypes for agronomical yield under drought and salinity stresses in the presence of humic acid

“…Therefore, its various developmental phases face drought stress. Although it is speculated that mungbean can survive during drought conditions, however the response of different cultivars is variable depending upon crop stage of growth, extent and duration of abiotic stresses ( Singh et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Overall all kinds of abiotic stresses hamper the production of mungbean, however salinity and drought are potential constraints for all stages of growth and developmental of plants under arid and semiarid conditions ( Sehrawat et al, 2020 , Singh et al, 2021 ). Exposure of plant to these changes results in the change of physiological, biochemical and metabolic processes ( Shah et al, 2018 ).…”

Genome-Wide Analysis of Late Embryogenesis Abundant Protein Gene Family in Vigna Species and Expression of VrLEA Encoding Genes in Vigna glabrescens Reveal Its Role in Heat Tolerance

“…In legume species, such as Vigna crops, seed yield is highly affected by various abiotic stresses ( HanumanthaRao et al, 2016 ; Douglas et al, 2020 ). Drought and high temperature are the most limiting factors ( Douglas et al, 2020 ; Kumar et al, 2020 ; Singh et al, 2021 ) among the abiotic stresses, affecting the crops at different growth stages, leading to severe yield penalties. Varieties respond differentially to abiotic stresses as per stress duration, crop growth stage, and genetic potential of a variety, which leads to moderate-to-severe yield loss ( Bangar et al, 2019 ).…”

“…A few potential donors have been identified and characterized among the cultivated germplasm and wild relatives in earlier studies against various abiotic stresses ( Pratap et al, 2014 ; Sharma et al, 2016 ; Singh et al, 2021 ), which can be included in breeding programs for mung bean improvement. Pratap et al (2014) characterized two wild accessions belonging to Vigna umbellata and Vigna glabrescens for photo- and thermoperiod insensitivity.…”