Grain Legume Genomics

Legumes play a vital role in human and animal diets and fostering agrobiodiversity and maintaining soil fertility. The independent research group Grain Legume Genomics (KLG) is established with the vision of increasing domestic production of protein-rich leguminous crops to reduce dependence on imported proteins and to replace meat-based protein diet with plant-based protein diet. We investigate the genetic basis of agronomic traits, protein quality and nutritional value in grain legumes such as faba bean (Vicia faba). In addition, we focus on emerging traits required for agroecological transition.

Key components of our research activities include:

The comprehensive characterization and mobilization of genetic diversity in genebanks
The development of foundational genomics resources such as a pan-genome and diversity atlas to advance fundamental research
The genetic dissection of agronomic and quality traits to advance molecular breeding
A close interaction with all stakeholders across the agricultural supply chain in Europe: breeders, farmers, and the food and feed industries.

The group contributes to IPK Research Themes “Concepts for Valorisation of Genetic Resources”, “Genome Diversity and Evolution” and “Growth and Metabolism”.

Group homepage:https://murulab.ipk-gatersleben.de

REPLACE: A genomic breeder’s toolkit for faba bean (Vicia faba)
Leibniz-Gemeinschaft: Leibniz Junior Research Group (2022-2026)

2024

Huang Y, Maurer A, Giehl R F H, Zhao S, Golan G, Thirulogachandar V, Li G, Zhao Y, Trautewig C, Himmelbach A, Börner A, Jayakodi M, Stein N, Mascher M, Pillen K, Schnurbusch T:

Dynamic phytomeric growth contributes to local adaptation in barley. Mol. Biol. Evol. 41 (2024) msae011. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msae011

Schreiber M, Jayakodi M, Stein N, Mascher M:

Plant pangenomes for crop improvement, biodiversity and evolution. Nat. Rev. Genet. (2024) Epub ahead of print. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41576-024-00691-4

Thirulogachandar V, Govind G, Hensel G, Kale S M, Kuhlmann M, Eschen-Lippold L, Rutten T, Koppolu R, Rajaraman J, Palakolanu S R, Seiler C, Sakuma S, Jayakodi M, Lee J, Kumlehn J, Komatsuda T, Schnurbusch T, Sreenivasulu N:

HOMEOBOX2, the paralog of SIX-ROWED SPIKE1/HOMEOBOX1, is dispensable for barley spikelet development. J. Exp. Bot. (2024) Epub ahead of print. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erae044

Van Binh N, Kim M J, Giang V N L, Lee Y S, Jayakodi M, Park H-S, Mohanan P, Kang K B, Ryu B, Park E J, Park T K, Yang T-J:

Improved biomass and metabolite production in hairy root culture in various genotypes of Panax ginseng through genetic transformation. Plant Cell Tiss. Organ Cult. 156 (2024) 43. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11240-023-02644-x

2023

Jayakodi M, Golicz A A, Kreplak J, Fechete L I, Angra D, Bednář P, Bornhofen E, Zhang H, Boussageon R, Kaur S, Cheung K, Čížková J, Gundlach H, Hallab A, Imbert B, Keeble-Gagnère G, Koblížková A, Kobrlová L, Krejčí P, Mouritzen T W, Neumann P, Nadzieja M, Nielsen L K, Novák P, Orabi J, Padmarasu S, Robertson-Shersby-Harvie T, Robledillo L Á, Schiemann A, Tanskanen J, Törönen P, Warsame A O, Wittenberg A H J, Himmelbach A, Aubert G, Courty P-E, Doležel J, Holm L U, Janss L L, Khazaei H, Macas J, Mascher M, Smýkal P, Snowdon R J, Stein N, Stoddard F L, Stougaard J, Tayeh N, Torres A M, Usadel B, Schubert I, OSullivan D M, Schulman A H, Andersen S U:

The giant diploid faba genome unlocks variation in a global protein crop. Nature 615 (2023) 652-659. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-05791-5

2022

Kamal N, Lux T, Jayakodi M, Haberer G, Gundlach H, Mayer K F X, Mascher M, Spannagl M:

The barley and wheat pan-genomes. In: Edwards D (Ed.): Plant bioinformatics: methods and protocols. (Series: Methods in molecular biology, Vol. 2443) New York, NY: Humana (2022) ISBN 978-1-0716-2066-3, 147-159. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2067-0_7

Sudha M, Karthikeyan A, Madhumitha B, Veera Ranjani R, Kanimoli Mathivathana M, Dhasarathan M, Murukarthick J, Samu Shihabdeen M N, Eraivan Arutkani Aiyanathan K, Pandiyan M, Senthil N, Raveendran M:

Dynamic transcriptome profiling of mungbean genotypes unveil the genes respond to the infection of mungbean yellow mosaic virus. Pathogens 11 (2022) 190. https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/pathogens11020190

Wang Y, Habekuss A, Jayakodi M, Mascher M, Snowdon R J, Stahl A, Fuss J, Ordon F, Perovic D:

High-resolution mapping of Barley mild mosaic virus resistance gene rym15. Front. Plant Sci. 13 (2022) 908170. https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.908170

Yu G, Matny O, Champouret N, Steuernagel B, Moscou M J, Hernández-Pinzón I, Green P, Hayta S, Smedley M, Harwood W, Kangara N, Yue Y, Gardener C, Banfield M J, Olivera P D, Welchin C, Simmons J, Millet E, Minz-Dub A, Ronen M, Avni R, Sharon A, Patpour M, Justesen A F, Jayakodi M, Himmelbach A, Stein N, Wu S, Poland J, Ens J, Pozniak C, Karafiátová M, Molnár I, Doležel J, Ward E R, Reuber T L, Jones J D G, Mascher M, Steffenson B J, Wulff B B H:

Aegilops sharonensis genome-assisted identification of stem rust resistance gene Sr62. Nat. Commun. 13 (2022) 1607. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29132-8

Zhang H, Mascher M, Abbo S, Jayakodi M:

Advancing grain legumes domestication and evolution studies with genomics. Plant Cell Physiol. 63 (2022) 1540–1553. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcac062

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