The Peanut Genome: An Introduction

Abstract

Peanut is an important oilseed and legume crop with global relevance to food and nutritional security in addition to source of income to millions of stallholder farmers of the Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Low genetic diversity in cultivated genepool and ploidy differences between different genepools have been the two important genetic bottlenecks hampering use of molecular breeding approaches for peanut improvement. Nevertheless, recent advances in genomics research have elevated the status of peanut from “resource-poor” to “genomic resource-rich” crop and therefore, it is an obligation to the peanut research community across the world to adopt a holistic approach including use of genomics information and tools in crop improvement programs. In this context, this book provides up-to-date information on the progress made in last 5 years in peanut genomics with a particular focus on the latest genomic findings, tools, and strategies employed in genome sequencing, transcriptomics, trait mapping, and molecular breeding approaches. This chapter by providing an overview of the contents of the book presents a big picture on the current status of peanut genome and allied information and its potential applications for peanut improvement.