Physiological and Genetic Adaptations of Arid Legumes to Environmental Stress Factors: Advances and Implications

Abstract

Widespread legume varieties common across arid/low-rainfall desert regions, of great economic importance, are becoming threatened despite prolonged evolution and adaptive endurance to abiotic stresses. However, research planning has paid little attention to improving agronomic conditions, particularly for legumes, in dry/arid regions. This review compiles the physiological and genetic resilience characteristics of dryland-friendly legumes, including the genetic correlation between rhizobia and improved desert soil quality and plant vigor, based on an extensive literature survey. A comprehensive discussion of recent advanced omics-based approaches to improve arid legume resilience highlights the prerequisites for incorporating underutilized legumes into desert intercropping systems to improve soil and crop performance. In this way, strategic initiatives that link genetic knowledge transfer from dryland to non-dryland legumes could help investigate the functional characterization of novel stress-resilient genes/allelic interactions.