Fig. 1.

Understanding domestication of grain legumes for future improvement. Grain legumes have been domesticated in different centers of origins worldwide and then spread to diverse eco-geographies for crop production. Morpho-physiological traits during domestication and diversification/improvement show distinct phenotypes among wild and current breeding pools. In recent years, incorporation of omics-level data and pangenome has strengthened crop genetic research. Once the key domestication loci are precisely mapped, the CWRs can be readily converted into domesticated forms by transferring these loci into CWRs through gene editing, introgression and mutagenesis approaches. Rapid domestication of CWRs using advanced biotechnologies will be key to sustainable crop improvement.