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| Phenotypic parameters including mean days to visual signs of stress (n wild = 18; n domesticated = 13) (A), mean leaf dry mass (n wild = 16, n domesticated = 14), (B) mean leaf water content, (C) were measured in wild and domesticated lablab accessions, under drought or control (well-watered) conditions. Plants were grown in pots for 24 days in a glasshouse before water was withdrawn to initiate drought stress. Error bars represent ± standard error of the mean. Significant comparisons found by a TukeyHSD test and their p-values are represented by a bracket.
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Hunger remains a prevalent issue worldwide, and with a changing climate, it is expected to become an even greater problem that our food systems are not adapted to. There is therefore a need to investigate strategies to fortify our foods and food systems. Underutilized crops are farmed regionally, are often adapted to stresses, including droughts, a...
Contexts in source publication
Context 1
... the plants from different accessions were of different height, leaf size and biomass, we did not set a specified length of time to perform the stress, as this could result in the sampling of plants that differ in physiology and maturity and therefore may lead to a "pot effect" rather than obtaining genuine changes with stress ( Moshelion et al. 2024). Instead, each plant was monitored daily until multiple symptoms of stress (drying or wilting of lower leaves, curling or yellowing of newer leaves, leaf drooping) were observed ( Figure S1), as wilting and dropping of leaves are known to be symptoms of drought stress, and until soil water moisture dropped under 15%, as measured by SM150T Soil Moisture Sensor with the HH2 Moisture Meter (Delta-T Devices, Cambridge, UK) ( Akello et al. 2023;Moshelion et al. 2024;Missanga, Ndakidemi, and Venkataramana 2023). At this point the dish was removed, and the plant was rewatered from the next day onwards by bench flooding. ...
Context 2
... the average number of days it took for both wild and domesticated accessions to show symptoms of drought stress were not significantly different with wild accessions taking 28.8 days on average to become visibly stressed and domesticated accession taking 28.5 days (one-way ANOVA F = 0.095, p = 0.761; Figure 1a). One accession of each (W21081 and D21085) took over 4 weeks to become visibly stressed (Data S3). ...
Context 3
... leaf biomass was significantly different depending on both the treatment (F = 10.841, p = 0.002; Figure 1b) and the domestication status (F = 8.147, p = 0.008) without a significant interaction (F = 0.395, p = 0.535). ...
Context 4
... mean water content of lablab leaves was 77.9% and 81.7% for domesticated and wild lablabs that underwent drought respectively ( Figure 1c). The mean water content for domesticated and wild accessions under control conditions was 79.0% and 77.9% respectively (Figure 1c; Data S4). ...
Context 5
... mean water content of lablab leaves was 77.9% and 81.7% for domesticated and wild lablabs that underwent drought respectively ( Figure 1c). The mean water content for domesticated and wild accessions under control conditions was 79.0% and 77.9% respectively (Figure 1c; Data S4). There was no significant effect of domestication status (F = 0.408, p = 0.529) or treatment (F = 0.598, p = 0.446) and no interaction (F = 1.518, p = 0.229) on the water content of lablab leaves. ...
Context 6
... water content also did not differ significantly between groups. Leaf biomass, however, was significantly greater (by about 50%-70%) in the domesticated accessions, and was significantly affected by treatment ( Figure 1B). Leaf traits are critical for managing water loss and optimizing photosynthesis under drought stress. ...
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... nutrient analysis demonstrated that the wild and domesticated lablab leaves differ in their nutrient concentration, especially for copper, iron, phosphorus, potassium, and zinc, with the wild accessions having anywhere from 16.90% (iron) to 83.34% (zinc) greater leaf concentrations compared to the domesticated accessions (Figure 2, Figures S1-S4). In comparison with Kabuli chickpea leaves harvested after 33 days, domesticated lablab leaves are on average 22.80% higher in copper, 31.27% ...
Context 8
... while wild lablab leaves seem to have a better nutritional profile compared to domesticated lablabs, the payoff lies in the size of the wild leaves. Wild leaves are smaller than the domesticated leaves, making them an inefficient choice for addressing energy requirements for people or grazing and in our greenhouse experiment, overall biomass was significantly lower per plant than domesticated plants ( Figure 1B). However, they may be used as a nutritious supplement alongside other foods that are higher in energy to improve the overall nutrition of a meal. ...
