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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Griffin, Georgia » Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #408345
Research Project: An Integrated Approach for Plant Genetic Resources Conservation, Characterization, Evaluation, Documentation, and Distribution

Location: Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit

Title: Peanut Genetic Resources: Status, Challenges and Use in Peanut Genetic Improvement

Author
item Tallury, Shyamalrau
item GERRANO, ABE - Agricultural Research Council Of South Africa
item DESHMUKH, DNYANESHWAR - International Crops Research Institute For Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) - India
item HAN, SUOYI - Henan Academy Of Agricultural Science
item MEKONNEN, T.W. - Agricultural Research Council Of South Africa
item LABUSCHAGNE, M.T. - Agricultural Research Council Of South Africa

Submitted to: CRC Press
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/13/2025
Publication Date: 12/22/2025
Citation: Tallury, S.P., Gerrano, A.S., Deshmukh, D., Han, S., Mekonnen, T., Labuschagne, M. 2025. Peanut Genetic Resources: Status, Challenges and Use in Peanut Genetic Improvement. Zhuang, W., Varshney, R., Wang, X., Zhang, X., editors. Peanut Genomics and Biotechnology. 1st edition. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 17-34.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003360988-2

Interpretive Summary: Genetic diversity is essential for peanut cultivar development. Peanut genetic resources serve as a reservoir of genes to fight unforeseen or future threats to the crop by pathogens and pests. Continuous progress in peanut improvement depends on the discovery and characterization of new sources of desirable traits, and their judicious use for the development of new cultivars. Genetic resources conserved in genebanks offer huge potential for utilization in breeding programs worldwide as sources of desirable traits. Detailed knowledge of the peanut genetic resources helps researchers to develop methods to transfer the desirable genes and develop improved peanut cultivars for sustained peanut production.

Technical Abstract: Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an annual food legume grown in over 100 countries for many uses, primarily as vegetable oil or snacks in local or regional diets, and the dried vines are used as fodder for livestock. Around the world, it is popularly known as groundnut because of its unique feature of producing flowers above ground with below-ground development of pods. Genus Arachis originated in South America, with several primary centers of diversity located in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Spread across these five countries, the genus contains about 83 described species grouped into nine different taxonomic sections with unique genomes and cross-compatibilities. The cultivated species, Arachis hypogaea, originated from a natural hybridization event between two wild Arachis species about 10,000 years ago. Following domestication, it spread to other parts of the world, displaying several secondary centers of diversity. Arachis hypogaea is a tetraploid, while many of the wild species are diploids, with a few other tetraploid and aneuploid species also present in the genus. Large germplasm collections of cultivated as well as wild species are preserved in several gene banks around the world. These germplasm collections provide the primary source of genetic diversity for peanut improvement to meet present and future demands. Several accessions have been used in developing improved cultivars, especially involving interspecific hybridization with the wild species. The derived genetic resources provided populations for molecular and genomic investigations, leading to the development of valuable resources for peanut breeders worldwide. These genetic resources act as a reservoir for many economically important traits, including yield, drought tolerance, resistance to diseases, nutritional quality, and long-term resilience of the crop against evolving pests and pathogens and a changing climate.