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The fluctuating climates, rising human population, and deteriorating arable lands necessitate sustainable crops to fulfil global food requirements. In the countryside, legumes with intriguing but enigmatic nitrogen-fixing abilities and thriving in harsh climatic conditions promise future food security. However, breaking the yield plateau and achieving higher genetic gain are the unsolved problems of legume improvement. Present study gives emphasis on 15 important legume crops, i.e., chickpea, pigeonpea, soybean, groundnut, lentil, common bean, faba bean, cowpea, lupin, pea, green gram, back gram, horse gram, moth bean, rice bean, and some forage legumes. We have given an overview of the world and India’s area, production, and productivity trends for all legume crops from 1961 to 2020. Our review article investigates the importance of gene pools and wild relatives in broadening the genetic base of legumes through pre-breeding and alien gene introgression. We have also discussed the importance of integrating genomics, phenomics, speed breeding, genetic engineering and genome editing tools in legume improvement programmes. Overall, legume breeding may undergo a paradigm shift once genomics and conventional breeding are integrated in the near future.

Rice blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae , is one of the most devastating diseases affecting rice crops. We investigated effectiveness of Streptomyces spp. against M. oryzae . The results revealed that among the Streptomyces spp., Streptomyces caeruleatus strain S14 demonstrated superior effectiveness in inhibiting the mycelial growth of M. oryzae (74.7%). The strain was identified by sequencing 16S rRNA region. Further, the complete genome sequence of this highly effective strain was acquired using the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 (PE 150), revealing a total genome length of 9,750,804 base pairs (9.7 Mb). The genome comprises 9,191 protein-coding sequences (CDS), 68 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes, 6 ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes, with an average G+C content of 71.03%. The Streptomyces caeruleatus S14 genome, annotated with RASTtk and genetic code 11, falls under the superkingdom Bacteria. According to annotation statistics from PATRIC, it is a high-quality genome with 97.9% coarse consistency, 93.7% fine consistency, and completeness of 99.9%. The genome included genes related to metabolism, protein processing, defense, virulence, energy, stress response, membrane transport, regulation, cell signaling, cell envelope, DNA processing, cellular activities, RNA processing, and miscellaneous. The complete genome sequence of S. caeruleatus suggests that it offers valuable insights into its antimicrobial activity and provide key genetic traits responsible for pathogen suppression. Incidentally this is the first whole genome sequencing report of S. caeruleatus isolated from rice rhizosphere soil in India.