Grasspea, a critical recruit among neglected and underutilized legumes, for tapping genomic resources

Abstract

Environmental perturbations are persistent threats to sustainable agriculture, and thus recruitment of resilient crops, especially legumes, exhibiting agronomically important traits has become a priority for plant biologists. It is of utmost importance that the neglected and underutilized legumes (NULs) are identified and utilized as source of germane genes and gene-products, through concerted research platforms. In the present article, we analyzed the current status of NULs with specific emphasis to the potent utility of grasspea owing to its unique characters including stress adaptation, nutritional superiority and ease of cultivation. We have highlighted the landmarks in the history of grasspea, delineating the rapid progress achieved in grasspea biology during the past decades. Despite possession of a neurotoxic compound, β-N-oxalyl-L-α,β-diaminopropionic acid (β-ODAP), this neglected legume outshines most food crops with its distinct physicochemical attributes, health and agricultural benefits and resilience to environmental constraints. With the availability of genome sequence, grasspea is now established as an appropriate genetic resource for sustainable agriculture and phytoremediation rendering its genes, proteins and metabolites for targeted genetic manipulation. We conclude that grasspea would serve as a resource for plant translational genomics (TG) research, particularly resilience of legumes to environmental challenges.