• 07:55 16-05-2025

The first complete genomes of rough-seeded lupins – Lupinus cosentinii and L. digitatus reveal evolutionary history and unlock new potential for developing drought-tolerant and sustainable crops.

May 10, 2025 – A groundbreaking study that was published in Nature Communications reveals the genomes of two understudied lupin species Lupinus cosentinii and L. 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 the group from the Institute of Plant Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences with dr. Karolina Susek as a leader, in collaboration with an international multidisciplinary team of scientists from Università Politecnica delle Marche, University of Verona and Genartis srl in Italy, University of Western Australia, the Minderoo Foundation and Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia, and University of Georgia in USA, bringing specialists in plant genomics, evolutionary biology, and legume breeding.

“This work is a significant milestone in lupin genomics” said dr. Karolina 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 characterizing the genomes of two orphan lupins to expand lupin genetic resources in breeding program and to promote the use of crop wild relatives  for strengthening food system resilience.

The project 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.

Access the study: 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.