Biotic and Abiotic Constraints in Mungbean Production—Progress in Genetic Improvement

Mungbean [Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek var. radiata] is an important food and cash legume crop in Asia. Development of short duration varieties has paved the way for the expansion of mungbean into other regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa and South America. Mungbean productivity is constrained by biotic and abiotic factors. Bruchids, whitefly, thrips, stem fly, aphids, and pod borers are the major insect-pests. The major diseases of mungbean are yellow mosaic, anthracnose, powdery mildew, Cercospora leaf spot, halo blight, bacterial leaf spot, and tan spot. Key abiotic stresses affecting mungbean production are drought, waterlogging, salinity, and heat stress. Mungbean breeding has been critical in developing varieties with resistance to biotic and abiotic factors, but there are many constraints still to address that include the precise and accurate identification of resistance source(s) for some of the traits and the traits conferred by multi genes. Latest technologies in phenotyping, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics could be of great help to understand insect/pathogen-plant, plant-environment interactions and the key components responsible for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. This review discusses current biotic and abiotic constraints in mungbean production and the challenges in genetic improvement

Genomics and phenomics assisted Mungbean breeding

Mungbean (Vigna radiata var. radiata (L.) Wilczek) is a nutritious legume crop adapted to tropical and subtropical conditions. Short duration (60 days), and tolerance to heat and drought makes mungbean a suitable crop for different cropping systems. The World Vegetable Center has established a Mungbean Minicore Collection of 296 accessions that displays a large portion of the variation available in the World Vegetable Center mungbean genebank collection of around 8,000 accessions. A wide range of useful traits including resistance to Mungbean Yellow Mosaic Disease, anthracnose, halo blight, dry root rot, powdery mildew, cowpea aphids, thrips, salt tolerance, and synchronous maturation have been identified in the minicore and have been used in mungbean breeding programs by the partners of the International Mungbean Improvement Network (IMIN). Genomics tools will support molecular breeding approaches in mungbean to introgress disease and pest resistance from landraces into high yielding elite varieties. A grant of the Agricultural Greater Good Program from Illumina allowed to resequence the whole genome of the mini-core collection lines plus important breeding materials. Multilocation field evaluation data of the mini-core collection and of breeding lines are available, and in parallel, high throughput phenotyping of the mungbean collection is ongoing to collect precise data on mungbean development and morphology. The project partners are actively engaged in the introgression of traits from donors identified during IMIN1 and are progressing testing of high performing lines

Modification of Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch Fibers by Nanoparticle Impregnation and Alkali Treatment

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) fibers were impregnated by copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) through the cationization process as well as treated by alkali solutions. Mechanical properties of different single fibers were measured and analysed by the Weibull statistical distribution. The weak link scaling of Weibull analysis has provided valuable information to scale the strength of one EFB fiber to predict the strength of other one. The impregnation and interfacial interaction of CuNPs with fibers has been analysed by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction study, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray study and thermogravimetric analysis. A significant increase in mechanical property of modified fibers with respect to the control ones has been observed. The crystallinity and thermal stability of the treated fibers were also found to be changed. These findings strongly suggest that CuNPs can be used as an effective reinforcing agent in natural fibers to improve their mechanical property and durability