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REVIEW article

Front. Genet.
Sec. Genomics of Plants and the Phytoecosystem
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1492434
This article is part of the Research Topic Genetic Dissection and Improvement of Crop Quality and Stress Adaptation View all 3 articles

Understanding the Impacts of Drought on Peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.): Exploring Physio-Genetic Mechanisms to Develop Drought-Resilient Peanut Cultivars

Provisionally accepted
Sameer Pokhrel Sameer Pokhrel 1Prasanna Kharel Prasanna Kharel 1Swikriti Pandey Swikriti Pandey 1Stephanie Botton Stephanie Botton 1Gema Takbir Nugraha Gema Takbir Nugraha 1Corley Holbrook Corley Holbrook 2Peggy Ozias-Akins Peggy Ozias-Akins 1*
  • 1 University of Georgia, Tifton Campus, Tifton, GA, United States
  • 2 Crop Genetics and Breeding Research, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), Tifton, Georgia, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    14 Abstract 15 16 Peanut is a vital source of protein, particularly in the tropical regions of Asian and African countries. 17 About three-quarters of peanut production occurs worldwide in arid and semi-arid regions, making 18 drought an important concern in peanut production. In the US about two-thirds of peanuts are grown 19 in non-irrigated lands, where drought accounts for 50 million USD loss each year. The looming 20 threat of climate change exacerbates this situation by increasing erratic rainfall. Drought not only 21 reduces yield but also degrades product quality. Peanuts under drought stress exhibit higher levels of 22 pre-harvest aflatoxin contamination, a toxic fungal metabolite detrimental to both humans and 23 animals. One way to sustain peanut production in drought-prone regions and address pre-harvest 24 aflatoxin contamination is by developing drought-tolerant peanut cultivars, a process that can be 25 accelerated by understanding the underlying physiological and genetic mechanisms for tolerance to 26 drought stress. Different physiological attributes and genetic regions have been identified in drought27 tolerant cultivars that help them cope with drought stress. The advent of precise genetic studies, 28 artificial intelligence, high-throughput phenotyping, bioinformatics, and data science have 29 significantly improved drought studies in peanuts. Yet, breeding peanuts for drought tolerance is 30 often a challenge as it is a complex trait significantly affected by environmental conditions. Besides 31 technological advancements, the success of drought-tolerant cultivar development also relies on the 32 identification of suitable germplasm and the conservation of peanut genetic variation.

    Keywords: drought, peanut, Physiology, Genetics, Breeding, tolerance

    Received: 06 Sep 2024; Accepted: 23 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Pokhrel, Kharel, Pandey, Botton, Nugraha, Holbrook and Ozias-Akins. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Peggy Ozias-Akins, University of Georgia, Tifton Campus, Tifton, GA, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.