May 22, 2025

INCREASE partner, the Polish Institute of Plant Genetics, reveals groundbreaking study on the first complete genomes of rough-seeded lupins

A groundbreaking study that was recently published in Nature Communications reveals the genomes of two understudied lupin species, Lupinus cosentinii and Lupinus digitatus, offering unprecedented insights into their evolution and potential to improve climate-resilient and drought tolerant crops. The research provides critical genomic tools to harness lupins for sustainable agriculture and global food security. Beyond the milestone for sustainable agricultural applications and crop innovation, the study provides a critical model for understanding polyploidy and rediploidization in legumes – a key driver in plant evolution.

This research was led by Dr Karolina Susek of the Institute of Plant Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with an international multidisciplinary team of scientists from the Università Politecnica delle Marche, the University of Verona and Genartis srl in Italy, the University of Western Australia, the Minderoo Foundation and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia, and the University of Georgia in the USA, bringing together specialists in plant genomics, evolutionary biology, and legume breeding.

“This work is a significant milestone in lupin genomics,” said Dr Susek. It reveals the full genomic architecture of Lupinus cosentinii and Lupinus digitatus. The work uncovers their tetraploid nature, significant evolutionary divergence from other smooth-seeded lupins, and provides a foundation for future crop breeding of lupins to improve food security through climate-resilient, high-protein crops. Importantly, the work provides a critical contribution to agrobiodiversity by characterising the genomes of two orphan lupins to expand lupin genetic resources in breeding programmes and to promote the use of crop wild relatives for strengthening food system resilience.

The research was funded by the National Science Centre, Poland (grant nos. HARMONIA 7 2015/18/M/NZ2/00422 and OPUS 18 2019/35/B/NZ8/04283). Additional support was provided by the EU Horizon 2020 INCREASE project (no. 862862), which focuses on enhancing the genetic resources of food legumes for European agro-food systems.

The full paper, “The unexplored diversity of rough-seeded lupins provides rich genomic resources and insights into lupin evolution”, is available in Nature Communications (DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-58531-w). The genomes and datasets are now publicly available via NCBI (BioProject ID: PRJNA1080360) and Figshare.

Lupinus digitatus

Lupinus cosentinii