Legumepower: Improving legume performance for more sustainable agricultural practices. FUL and AP2 genes effect on pod yield and root development

LEGUMEPOWER proposes activities related to promote the ecological transition by generating knowledge that could support a wider and more flexible use of legumes in Spanish agriculture. Legumes are valued crops with highly interesting sustainability parameters. Most legumes have the ability to fix nitrogen in the soil through nodulation and therefore are useful to reduce the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers that have a tremendous negative impact in the environment. They are also a source of high-quality protein, reducing the need for protein derived from meat for human consumption, as well as for animal feed. In addition, legumes are a basic component of the Mediterranean diet, intrinsically embedded in our cultural heritage, with a wealth of landraces and local varieties that constitute a huge reservoir of biodiversity still to be fully exploited and developed

An expected outcome of LEGUMEPOWER is to increase the competitiveness and cultivation of grain legume crops in Spanish agriculture by generating knowledge that can be used in breeding programs for varietal improvement and, in the mid/long- term, also for neo-domestication of orphan legume crops or adaptation of ancient or semi-wild landraces that could be more resilient to the challenges imposed by the global climatic change. Specifically, we will target pod/seed yield and root-related traits (water usage efficiency and nodulation/nitrogen fixation capacity), two major problems affecting legume cultivation.

We will build the project on extensive data generated by the co-PI labs in the control of the length of the reproductive phase, primarily uncovered in Arabidopsis. We have characterized a genetic network (which involves, among others, transcriptional regulators like the FRUITFULL and APETALA2-like genes or the microRNA172) that ultimately regulate flower and fruit production in this model species, but also appears to be conserved in pea, where we have been able to significantly increase yield of some varieties by manipulation of components of the network. The primary target of our proposal is pea , where we will further explore the function and the biotechnological potential of these key genes controlling the length of the reproductive phase and thus total pod/seed production, their regulatory interactions and their putative role in root development and nodulation. We will also initiate the translation of the most advanced results to common bean, a traditional crop in Spain that is rich in biodiversity in the form of local varieties, but with large room for breeding improvement.

Our working hypothesis is that we can use the knowledge on the control of the reproductive phase to improve yield and potentially to improve water usage and nitrogen fixation. We believe that knowledge acquired in pea can be easily translated into common bean breeding programs. The proposed activities, in one hand, will further expand this basic knowledge, contemplating key factors for a more sustainable agriculture

Our specific objectives are:

Objective 1: Understand novel possibilities and possible limitations of PsFULa and PsFULb allelic variation to improve pea performance under different environmental conditions.

Objective 2: Development of a CRISPR/Cas9 tool for gene editing in pea.

Objective 3: Assess the use of orthologues of FULa and FULb, and functionally related genes, to improve performance of other legume crops.

Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades

Agencia Estatal de Investigación

TED2021-129963B-I00