Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » St. Paul, Minnesota » Plant Science Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #424136
Research Project: Gene Discovery and Trait Improvement in Soybean, Alfalfa, and Other Legumes by Gene Editing

Location: Plant Science Research

Title: Gene editing and transformation strategies for engineering drought-tolerant legumes

Author
item FERNÁNDEZ-GUTIÉRREZ, ANDREA - University Of Minnesota
item Curtin, Shaun
item GUTIÉRREZ-GONZÁLEZ, JUAN - University Of Leon

Submitted to: Legume Science
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/3/2025
Publication Date: 1/27/2026
Citation: Fernández-Gutiérrez, A., Curtin, S.J., Gutiérrez-González, J.J. 2026. Gene editing and transformation strategies for engineering drought-tolerant legumes. Legume Science. 8(1):e70080. https://doi.org/10.1002/leg3.70080.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/leg3.70080

Interpretive Summary: Legumes are crucial for our food supply and face a significant threat from drought. It is therefore essential to make legume crops more drought tolerant. Strategies for crop improvement include genetic engineering, particularly gene editing of cultivars with favorable agronomic characteristics. This review discusses how, by modifying or editing specific genes, developmental and biochemical pathways can be activated or repressed that help the plants withstand drought. In parallel with this goal, advancements in the transformation and regeneration efficiency of legume crops are needed to realize these modifications and crop improvement. These efforts are crucial for ensuring sustainable and resilient production of legumes, which are vital for sustainable agriculture, human and animal nutrition, and economic success of U.S. farmers.

Technical Abstract: Legumes are a diverse group of plants with agricultural, nutritional, and economic importance. However, several factors currently threaten their production. Drought and its unpredictability will likely be the most harmful constraint to affect legume crops in the upcoming decades. Therefore, improving drought tolerance will be crucial for resilient and sustainable production, which can be enhanced by genetic engineering through gene modification or editing. Drought tolerance in the longer term entails the activation or repression of molecular pathways, such as the ABA-dependent or -independent pathways that regulate the expression of stress-related genes, making them ideal targets for genetic tweaking. However, the many legume crop genotypes are often recalcitrant to transformation or have low transformation and or regeneration efficiency. Consequently, recent efforts have focused not only on potential genes to target but also on improving transformation and regeneration rates. In this review, we discuss the latest advances in legume transformation methods and the gene modifications carried out to improve drought tolerance in legume crops.