Development of high yielding and stable cultivars of various legume crops across different environments is very important for their adoption by farmers. In addition, climate change sets new challenges to major crop species and especially to grain legumes such as faba bean (Vicia faba L.) for adaptation to stressful environments. The present study focused on evaluating faba bean genotypes developed for yield and stability across different environments. The study was conducted in three areas of Greece (South, Central, and North) for two consecutive growing seasons (2018–2019 and 2019–2020). Biomass yield, seed yield, and yield components were studied together with plant height, earliness, and water use efficiency. Genotype, environment, and their interaction affected most of the studied characteristics. The environment was the major source of variation for most of the characteristics, as it explained 81–93% of total variation, and only in the thousand seed weight the variation was 49% for the environment and 40% for the genotype. Genotype had a much smaller effect on the remaining characteristics (1.2–3.9%), and the interaction between environment x genotype accounted for up to 0.5–17% of the variation. GGE-biplot analysis for high yield and stability across different environments revealed three genotypic types: genotypes well adapted either for biomass or seed yield and genotypes with high adaptation capacity for both traits under typical Mediterranean conditions. These results indicated that screening faba bean genotypes under different environmental field conditions is essential to identify adaptable cultivars to be cultivated for biomass and/or seed yield or to be used in breeding programs.

Polyamines (PAs) are nitrogenous molecules that are indispensable for cell viability and with an agreed-on role in the modulation of stress responses. Tobacco plants with downregulated SAMDC (AS-SAMDC) exhibit reduced PAs synthesis but normal levels of PA catabolism. We used AS-SAMDC to increase our understanding on the role of PAs in stress responses. Surprisingly, at control conditions AS-SAMDC showed increased biomass and altered developmental characteristics, such as increased height and leaf number. On the contrary, during salt stress AS-SAMDC showed reduced vigor when compared to the WT. During salt stress, the AS-SAMDC plants although showing compensatory readjustments of the antioxidant machinery and of photosynthetic apparatus, they failed to sustain their vigor. AS-SAMDC sensitivity was accompanied by inability to effectively control H2O2 levels and concentrations of monovalent and divalent cations. In accordance with these findings, we suggest that PAs may regulate the trade-off between growth and tolerance responses.

The health-promoting effects of lentil seeds due to phenolic compounds and other antioxidants make lentils a potential source of functional food or feed ingredients. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of genotype and growing environment on the phytochemical contents and antioxidant activities such as ABTS (2′-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) and FRAP (ferric reducing antioxidant power) assays of soluble extracts from five lentil cultivars grown in ten diverse locations over a 2-year experimental period. Total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), total proanthocyanidin content (TPAC), total hydrolyzed tannin content (TNC), tocopherols and carotenoids were investigated. The major proanthocyanidins and individual polyphenols were quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography. Our results indicated that flavanols were the main phenolic compounds in hydrophilic extracts, followed by phenolic acids. Concerning lipophilic extracts, tocopherols and carotenoids were the main components, with γ-tocopherol and lutein being the predominant isomers, respectively. In general, both genetic and environmental effects had a strong impact on all bioactive components tested. Greater variation due to environmental effects was found for phenolic compounds (TPC, TFC and TPAC) and antioxidant activities; however, tocopherols and carotenoids revealed a high genotypic dependence. The principal component analysis highlighted the genotypes with higher content of antioxidants and stability across environments. The red lentil population “03-24L” was characterized as a promising genetic material due to its high phenolic contents and antioxidant capacity values across environments and is suggested for further investigation. In conclusion, multi-environmental trials are essential for a better understanding of the genotypic and environmental effect on phytochemical profiles of lentils and provide important information for breeding or cultivating lentil varieties of high-bioactive value.

Intercropping is an old and commonly used agricultural practice and involves the cultivation of two or more crops in the same area of land at the same time and may improve yield, the use of the environmental resources, product quality, and soil health. The objective of the present study was to study the effect of water availability of wheat-pea intercrops using agronomic and physiological characteristics. The experiment was conducted at the farm of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece during two growing seasons 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 using two different cultivars from pea (Isard and Olympos) and wheat (Yecora E and Elissavet) and two irrigation regimes. The availability of water increased grain yield and affected most of the characteristics that were studied. In terms of total Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) there was a yield advantage of intercrops over monocrops, which indicates the efficiency of intercropping for using the environmental resources. Both wheat cultivars, the pea cultivar Olympos and their intercrops indicated high adaptation capacity to rainfed conditions, whereas Isard and its intercrops performed better under irrigation. Therefore, the intercropping of wheat with pea uses the water resources of the environment more efficiently and can be used in dry land conditions for higher yield.

Landraces are a valuable source of genetic variability for breeders to develop high-yielding lentil varieties. Apart from productivity, simultaneous breeding for lentil seed nutritional quality is of paramount importance for wider lentil consumption. This work examined the indirect effect of single plant selection for high yield on important seed quality traits within three Greek lentil landraces (“Elassona” (EL), “Lefkada” (L), and “Evros” (EV)). The breeding methodology applied was proved to help either maintain or improve such characteristics in the high-yielding second-cycle lines (SLs) selected. Compared to the parental landrace “Elassona”, the high-yielding lines showed increased crude fiber by 30–110%; the line 2-SL-EL-6 had higher starch content by 3.9% and reduced cooking time by 6.67 min, while the 2-SL-EL-10 line had higher crude fiber by 73%. In the case of “Lefkada”, the high-yielding lines selected maintained the protein content present in the parental landrace, apart from the 2-SL-L-1 where a decrease by 5% was recorded; however, most of them showed increased crude fiber (5.59–7.52%) in comparison with the parental landrace (4.65%). Finally, in relation to the “Evros” parental landrace, the 2-SL-EV-3 and 2-SL-EV-4 showed higher crude fiber and reduced cooking time. This study provides evidence that proper management of genetic variability could improve productivity without compromising or sometimes improving some seed quality traits.