Preface

With more than 20,000 species, legumes (*Fabaceae*) are the third largest and most diverse plant family. They are highly desired crops worldwide; approximately 25 crop legumes are crucial for global food structures. They provide a broad variety of important and affordable sources of vegetable proteins for humans and animals while contributing to food and feed security in the perspective of an increasing global population. Legume seeds exhibit nutritional properties and health benefits and provide crucial facilities to agriculture through their capability to fix atmospheric nitrogen by microorganism symbiosis. Their other multiple beneficial roles in agroecosystems include augmenting carbon quantity in soils dedicated to agriculture, stimulating the production of rotation crops, and controlling weeds.

Despite their importance, legume production has slowed in the past 50 years, which has caused a substantial reduction in the per capita accessibility of food legumes. Thus, continuing to develop legume varieties with desirable traits is essential for coping with new challenges caused by climate change. To improve production and seed quality compounds, genetic resources from germplasms with environmentally strong genes are being used to design high-yield crops that are resistant to climate challenges.

In this framework, genomic and genetic developments are of high importance and play a crucial role in increasing pf crop production using both traditional breeding as well as cutting-edge and original biotechnological methodologies and techniques, whose uses will certainly contribute to sustainable agriculture and food security.

This book is a collection of studies on improving legume seed traits. Chapters examine genetics and genomics of legumes, seed trait research to obtain stressresilient grains, genetic markers linked to seed quality and increased crop yield, plant-soil interactions, and more.

> **Jose C. Jimenez-Lopez** Department of Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology of Plants, Estacion Experimental del Zaidin, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Granada, Spain

#### **Alfonso Clemente**

Department of Physiology and Biochemistry of the Animal Nutrition, Estacion Experimental del Zaidin, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Granada, Spain

Section 1
