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Genomics and Physiological Approaches for Root Trait Breeding to Improve Drought Tolerance in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)

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Root Genomics

Abstract

Terminal drought stress is one of the most serious constraints in chickpea production in the semiarid tropics. Physiological and breeding studies have indicated that roots play an important role in conferring tolerance to drought in chickpea. As a result, root traits such as root depth, root length density, and root biomass are being targeted for understanding their genetics and extent of variation available in the germplasm collection. Efforts are also made for identifying molecular markers associated with different root traits responsible for conferring drought tolerance. In parallel, cDNA libraries are being generated from root tissues of chickpea exposed to drought stress in greenhouse as well as field conditions, and gene discovery experiments are underway. Molecular markers and candidate genes associated with root traits are being targeted to introgress the QTLs (quantitative trait loci) for root traits from drought-tolerant genotypes to drought-sensitive genotypes following marker-assisted breeding strategies. Thus, by combining genomics, physiology, and breeding, the development of drought-tolerant chickpea cultivars with higher yield in the semiarid tropics will be more effective and efficient.

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Acknowledgments

Authors are thankful to colleagues involved in root trait research in chickpea at ICRISAT for sharing the published as well as unpublished results. Thanks are due to Generation Challenge Program (http://www.generationcp.org), National Fund of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and the Department of Biotechnology of Government of India for sponsoring the research projects to carry out the research on drought tolerance and chickpea genomics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre of Excellence in Genomics (CEG), International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, 502 324, A.P., India

    Rajeev K. Varshney

  2. Theme - Comparative and Applied Genomics, Generation Challenge Programme, c/o CIMMYT Generation Challenge Program (GCP), c/o CIMMYT, Int APDO Postal 6641, 06600, Mexico, DF, Mexico

    Rajeev K. Varshney

  3. School of Plant Biology (M084), Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, School of Plant Biology(M084), 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Rajeev K. Varshney

  4. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics ( ICRISAT), Patancheru, 502324, A.P., India

    Lekha Pazhamala, Pooran M. Gaur, L. Krishnamurthy & Dave Hoisington

  5. Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Kita 9 Nishi 9, Kita-ku, Sapporo, 060-8589, Japan

    Junichi Kashiwagi

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  1. Rajeev K. Varshney
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  2. Lekha Pazhamala
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  3. Junichi Kashiwagi
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  4. Pooran M. Gaur
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  5. L. Krishnamurthy
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  6. Dave Hoisington
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Correspondence to Rajeev K. Varshney .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Genômica e, Fitomelhoramento (CGF), Universidade Federal de Pelotas (UFPel), Pelotas, 96001-970, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

    Antonio Costa de Oliveira

  2. ICRISAT, Centre of Excellence in Genomics (CEG), Patancheru, 502 324, Andra Pradesh, India

    Rajeev K. Varshney

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Varshney, R.K., Pazhamala, L., Kashiwagi, J., Gaur, P.M., Krishnamurthy, L., Hoisington, D. (2011). Genomics and Physiological Approaches for Root Trait Breeding to Improve Drought Tolerance in Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). In: Costa de Oliveira, A., Varshney, R. (eds) Root Genomics. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-85546-0_10

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