Rising Demand for Winter Crops Under Climate Change: Breeding for Winter Hardiness in Autumn-Sown Legumes.

ABSTRACT: Climate change in the Pannonian region is accelerating a shift toward autumn sowing of cool-season grain legumes (pea, faba bean, lentil, chickpea, lupine) to achieve higher yields, greater biomass production, enhanced nitrogen fixation, improved soil cover, and superior resource use efficiency compared with spring sowing. However, successful overwintering depends on the availability of robust winter-hardy cultivars. This review synthesizes recent breeding advances, integrating traditional approaches-such as germplasm screening, hybridization, and field-based selection-with genomics-assisted strategies, including genome-wide association studies (GWAS), quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, marker-assisted selection (MAS), and CRISPR/Cas-mediated editing of CBF transcription factors. Key

SUBMITTER: Magyar-Tabori K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12843293 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature