Projected increases in human population suggest that 70% more food will be needed in the near future, this makes it imperative to search for alternative food and feed sources for human and animal nutrition to feed the exponentially growing human population. According to the FAO 2019 report, the immense challenge of achieving the Zero Hunger target by 2030 is persistent. Exploring the unexplored, refining unrefined traits, cultivating the uncultivated, and popularizing the unpopular remain the most adequate steps proposed by researchers to achieve the domestication of the undomesticated for food and nutrition security. In that line of thought, this study explored the proximate composition of 87 accessions of four wild unexplored Vigna species (V. racemosa, V. ambacensis, V. reticulata, V. vexillata) in order to reveal information leading to their future domestication and utilization. Standard procedures and methods approved by the Association of Official Analytical Chemists were used in carrying out the proximate composition (%protein, %lipid, %fibre, %ash and % moisture and % carbohydrate) of the wild Vigna legumes. The study revealed that the wild Vigna species possess a large variation range of nutrient characteristics which could be exploited in the improvement of domesticated species or guide their domestication. It was also found that some individual wild accessions have higher nutrient, content as compared with domesticated ones which could be advantageous for bio-fortification or domestication. Indications relating to the candidate accessions favourable for domestication, based on the nutrient characteristics were revealed.

In the face of climate change, developing resilient crops is crucial for global food security in the 21st century to feed a growing population. Lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus) plays a vital role in ensuring global food and nutritional security. Traits like early flowering enable the crop to mature faster, thereby shortening the growing window and reducing yield losses caused by moisture and heat stresses during the reproductive phase. However, issues like limited genetic diversity in this trait remain unaddressed. To address this gap, our study aims to comprehensively assess genetic variability and trait associations in 158 lentil accessions. In the present study, we observed significant variations for days to 50% flowering (67–90 days), days to maturity (109–122 days) and 100 seed weight (1.69–2.68 g) throughout a period of two consecutive years (2020–2021 and 2021–2022). The observed variability in these traits offers a valuable avenue for the improvement of lentil yield through targeted selection and hybridization. Additionally, correlation analysis showed negative correlation between days to 50% flowering and grain yield per plant, while plant height had a significant (P < 0.01) positive correlation with all traits except yield per plant. Furthermore, we identified specific germplasm with exceptional traits that hold significant potential for future breeding programmes. The genotypes EC 223197-A and EC 267696 were identified for early flowering with high yield, and other genotypes that were identified for various traits would serve as breeding material for the introgression of these traits into elite cultivars.

This study aimed to understand the genetics of tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (ToLCNDV) in the identified novel source of resistance from Indian melon germplasm DSM-19 (Cucumis melo var. momordica) as viral diseases in muskmelon cause significant economic yield loss. To achieve this, a cross was made between the highly susceptible genotype Pusa Sarda (C. melo var. inodorus), known for its desirable fruit characters, and the resistant source DSM-19 to generate the suitable populations for inheritance study. These populations were screened under natural epiphytotic conditions and further validated through challenge inoculation with viruliferous whiteflies. The inheritance of ToLCNDV resistance in snapmelon germplasm DSM-19 was identified as monogenic recessive in both the screening methods. Moreover, a cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker named ‘CAPS 16 (2)’ was designed near to SNP marker D16 located on chromosome 11 of melon, and it was found to be linked to the ToLCNDV resistance gene in DSM-19. This is the first report on genetics of ToLCNDV resistance in snapmelon germplasm from India. Snapmelon line DSM-19 can be used as a source for fine mapping and introgression of the ToLCNDV resistance into susceptible muskmelon cultivars.

Lack of water at limiting levels results in drought stress, which may have an impact on the various stages of a crop's life cycle. Four different genotypes of snapmelon (Cucumis melo L. var. momordica) responded differently to 0, 7 and 21 d of simulated drought stress. Information was collected on a range of morpho-physiological, biochemical and molecular characteristics. Each genotype had longer roots, though BAM-VR-312 had the longest roots overall. As the severity of the drought grew, the net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and stomatal conductance (Gs) dropped. In BAM-VR-312, a smaller decline in relative water content (RWC) was recorded, despite the fact that drought stress caused a significant fall in RWC. BAM-VR-312 had smaller accumulations of electrolyte leakage, hydrogen peroxide, phenol and malondialdehyde, although proline content was greater. A decrease in photosynthetic pigments was noted, though BAM-VR-312 had the least reduction. Antioxidant enzyme activity increased in BAM-VR-312, as evidenced by records of ascorbate peroxidase, catalase, guaiacol peroxidase, glutathione reductase and superoxide dismutase. Similarly, expression level of their respective genes was recorded highest in BAM-VR-312. Overall, the study clearly identified distinct genotype based on morpho-physiological, biochemical and molecular properties under drought stress and revealed that the genotype BAM-VR-312 had more efficient drought tolerance mechanisms than the other genotypes under the drought stress condition.

Plant responses to multiple environmental conditions in the habitat are characterized by intra-species variety. Ferula assa-foetida L. is a native medical plant in Iran, which has a wide range of therapeutic and pharmacological properties. The objective of the current study was to identify changes in phenolic content, antioxidant capacity and essential oil (EO) composition in different tissues (leaf, flower and fruit) of three populations of F. assa-foetida L. (Sarbisheh, Nehbandan, located in South Khorasan province of Iran). The results showed that total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity in the leaves of Sarbisheh were higher than in other treatments. The amount of TPC, TFC and DPPH scavenging activity in leaves was higher than in other tissues in the Sarbisheh population, increasing by 31 and 70%, 41 and 20%, 8 and 13%, respectively, over that of flowers and fruits. The main EO compounds of leaves were α-pinene (11.86–13.56%), β-pinene (6.80–7.99%), bornyl acetate (15.80–17.33%). The main EO constitutes of flowers were Z-propenyl-sec-butyldisulfide (10.12–12.4%), eco-fenchyl acetate (10.87–12.4%), myrcisticin (13.43–15.87%) and α-bisabolol (11.23–13.76%). The primary compounds of fruit EO were β-pinene (9.32–11.26%), (Z)-1-propenyl sec butyldisulf (17.54–18.87%) and (E)-1-propenyl sec butyldisulf (28.32–30.02%). The agglomerative hierarchical clustering showed that three distinguished clusters were identified for population, where Nehbandan and Qaen had the higher similarity and Sarbisheh completely differed from the two ones. Different plant tissues contain varying types of chemicals, with leaves exhibiting higher levels of phenolic content and antioxidant capacity. This characteristic can be beneficial for industries such as food and pharmaceuticals.

Tomato has been cultivated in Greece for more than 200 years, even though is not native to the country. Greece with a favourable environment all-round the year, has become a major competitor in tomato production around Europe. However, there is an increasing demand to improve tomato crop, to withstand harsh environmental conditions (extreme temperatures, salinity, etc.), and to develop high-quality final products. People have devoted a significant effort to crop improvement through phenotypic screening resulting in a large number of tomato landraces. An increasing demand to clarify the relationships among local tomato landraces and hybrids utilizing the most preferred molecular markers the simple sequence repeats (SSR-markers) is the main objective of this study. Twenty-seven tomato landraces and two tomato hybrids cultivated in Crete, Greece, were genotyped utilizing eleven simple sequence repeats (SSR) along with the Structure analysis of the germplasm. A neighbour-joining dendrogram of the 27 landraces and the two hybrids was produced. The Structure analysis indicated that nine ancestral populations are hidden inside the group of all the genotypes tested, using Evanno's method. The final objective was to make these data publicly available through the first Greek relational database (Greek Tomato Database-GTD). GTD was developed allowing the users to update and enrich the database, with new and supplemental information. This work is the first molecular fingerprint of the 27 landraces of Greece which is documented along with the phenotypic information in the GTD.

Drought is a major abiotic stress worldwide limiting chickpea yield drastically. Low heritability and high genotype × environment interactions make the trait-based breeding strategy an unreliable approach. This study was planned to identify the drought-tolerant lines by evaluating yield-based selection indices in a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population derived from an inter-specific cross between drought-tolerant genotype GPF 2 (Cicer arietinum L.) and drought-sensitive accession ILWC 292 (C. reticulatum) at two locations in India (Ludhiana and Faridkot). A total of six yield-based selection indices were calculated and significant variation was observed in the RILs and their parents for yield-based selection indices at both locations. A holistic approach across association analysis and principal component analysis identified drought tolerance index, mean productivity, geometric mean productivity and harmonic mean productivity as key selection indices, which could be used for indirect selection of drought-tolerant lines. Overall, on the basis of these approaches, a total of 15 promising RILs were identified for their use in chickpea breeding programme for developing drought-tolerant cultivars.

This study investigates the inheritance pattern of petalous and apetalous traits in yellow sarson (Brassica rapa var yellow sarson) and its significance for breeding efforts. Utilizing three crucial crosses between petalous (Pant Sweta, Pant Girija, YSH0401) and ‘apetalous’ parents, we observed the absence of apetalous plants in the F1 generation, indicating dominant inheritance of petalous plants. The F2 generation consistently displayed a 3:1 ratio of petalous to apetalous plants, confirming the dominance of the petalous trait. Chi-squared tests on each generation supported this conclusion. Backcrosses with petalous parents yielded no fruit, reinforcing the dominance of the petalous trait. Chi-squared tests on these backcrosses further confirmed the dominance inheritance pattern. Conversely, backcrosses with apetalous parents consistently exhibited a 1:1 ratio, highlighting the recessive nature of the apetalous trait. The study underscores the importance of understanding the inheritance pattern of petalous and apetalous traits in B. rapa var yellow sarson crop, as it has implications for breeding goals. Knowledge on trait inheritance can guide future breeding strategies, facilitating the transfer of the apetalous trait as needed. This study provides valuable insights for genetic investigations and breeding initiatives in B. rapa var yellow sarson.