The Role of Metabolites in Abiotic and Biotic Stress Tolerance in Legumes

Abstract

Population growth in the world has made the production of food to feed this population a major challenge. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that to meet human food needs by 2050, crop productivity must double. Legumes family plays an important role in food security, poverty alleviation, and sustainability. It is determined that plant development and stress responses, as well as processes such as growth, the integrity of cells, energy storing, cellular signaling, formation of membrane and scaffolding, cellular replenishing, and whole-plant resource assignment, are managed by plant metabolites. One of the important parts of early stress responses concerns changes in plant metabolism, which includes the accumulation of antioxidants for the protection of cellular components from oxidative damage and the accumulation of compatible solutes that retain water in the cell. Other components, such as GABA and amino acids, including threonine, leucine, methionine, lysine, valine, and isoleucine, were usually induced during environmental stress conditions. In general, it was determined that plants containing various metabolites alter their physiology to adapt to various situations, such as stress. Important metabolites that play a role in tolerance to stress in legumes can help breeding programs in developing stress-tolerant cultivars to increase food security in the world.