Legume Genomics to Combat World Hunger

Sue K Kim,  Department of Plant Science and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-921, Korea

Suk-Ha Lee, Department of Plant Science and Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 151-921, Korea , and Plant Genomics and Breeding Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-921, Korea

 

Legume crops, of the family Leguminosae, play an important role in human diets, providing a beneficial nutritional source of protein, carbohydrates, dietary fibre, and a significant amount of vitamins and minerals. As a matter of fact, legume proteins complement cereal proteins when eaten together which can reduce malnutrition around the world, especially in developing countries. World hunger has been a big issue for generations and has continued to exacerbate by population growth, climate change, and increasingly scare natural resources. To meet the global food demand and reduce hunger, agriculture will need to increase the quantity and quality of food supplies using less inputs of water, energy, fertilizers, and others. Legumes, because of their macronutrient and micronutrient contents, can be used to combat world hunger. Currently, several legume species have been sequenced including M. truncatula, L. japonicas, soybean, pigeon pea, chickpea, mungbean, and adzuki bean, which have enabled breeding for accelerated genetic improvement of legumes. We discuss here the latest advances of molecular and genomic analysis in legumes and the significant contributions made towards the development of high-yielding varieties that will ultimately be used in overcoming food insecurity and malnutrition.