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REVIEW article
Front. Hortic.
Sec. Breeding and Genetics
Volume 4 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fhort.2025.1520119
This article is part of the Research Topic Trends in Mutation Breeding, Seed Priming and Tissue Culture-Based Genetic Improvement of Leguminous and Non-Leguminous Crops for Stress Tolerance View all articles
Insights on the utilisation of tissue culture to aid new breeding techniques for cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) improvement
Provisionally accepted- 1 University of Limpopo, Sovenga, South Africa
- 2 SAFCOL, Nelspruit, South Africa
- 3 Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Rochester, New York, United States
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) is an underutilised vegetable legume indigenous to and predominantly cultivated and consumed in Africa. However, its reach in agricultural production and consumption has expanded globally. This resilient crop is known for its ability to withstand various environmental stressors, making it suitable for marginal crop production systems preferred by small-scale farmers. Although cowpea exhibits tolerance to drought, it is notably sensitive to salinity stress and biotic agents. The degree of tolerance to drought varies among different cultivars, which requires further research to develop more resilient varieties. The changing climate patterns and associated uncertainties highlight the urgent need to breed more resilient and productive cowpea cultivars. Conventional plant breeding techniques have produced new varieties of cowpeas, yet the limited genetic diversity within cultivated cowpeas poses challenges for future conventional breeding efforts. New breeding techniques (NBTs), including gene editing tools, single base pair alterations, and DNA methylation methods, offer promising alternatives to accelerate cowpea improvement. However, such approaches are also faced with challenges associated with the success of organogenesis (OG) and somatic embryogenesis (SE) in tissue culture. This review examines challenges and advances in the use of tissue culture to enhance cowpea productivity and resilience against abiotic and biotic stresses.
Keywords: Organogenesis, somatic embryogenesis, New Breeding Techniques (NBTs), Tissue cultue, cowpea
Received: 30 Oct 2024; Accepted: 03 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Vacu, Nzama and Muyiwa. 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:
Malizukiswe Vincent Vacu, University of Limpopo, Sovenga, South Africa
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