AUTHOR=Verma Sachin Kumar , Singh Chandan Kumar , Taunk Jyoti , Gayacharan  , Chandra Joshi Dinesh , Kalia Sanjay , Dey Nrisingha , Singh Amit Kumar 

TITLE=Vignette of Vigna domestication: From archives to genomics

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2022.960200

DOI=10.3389/fgene.2022.960200

ISSN=1664-8021

ABSTRACT=<p>The genus <italic>Vigna</italic> comprises fast-growing, diploid legumes, cultivated in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. It comprises more than 200 species among which <italic>Vigna angularis</italic>, <italic>Vigna radiata</italic>, <italic>Vigna mungo</italic>, <italic>Vigna aconitifolia</italic>, <italic>Vigna umbellata</italic>, <italic>Vigna unguiculata</italic>, and <italic>Vigna vexillata</italic> are of enormous agronomic importance. Human selection along with natural variability within these species encompasses a vital source for developing new varieties. The present review convokes the early domestication history of <italic>Vigna</italic> species based on archeological pieces of evidence and domestication-related traits (DRTs) together with genetics of domestication. Traces of early domestication of <italic>Vigna</italic> have been evidenced to spread across several temperate and tropical regions of Africa, Eastern Asia, and few parts of Europe. Several DRTs of <italic>Vigna</italic> species, such as pod shattering, pod and seed size, dormancy, seed coat, seed color, maturity, and pod dehiscence, can clearly differentiate wild species from their domesticates. With the advancement in next-generation high-throughput sequencing techniques, exploration of genetic variability using recently released reference genomes along with <italic>de novo</italic> sequencing of <italic>Vigna</italic> species have provided a framework to perform genome-wide association and functional studies to figure out different genes related to DRTs. In this review, genes and quantitative trait loci (QTLs) related to DRTs of different <italic>Vigna</italic> species have also been summarized. Information provided in this review will enhance the in-depth understanding of the selective pressures that causes crop domestication along with nature of evolutionary selection made in unexplored <italic>Vigna</italic> species. Furthermore, correlated archeological and domestication-related genetic evidence will facilitate <italic>Vigna</italic> species to be considered as suitable model plants.</p>