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Legume Crops Phylogeny And Genetic Diversity For Science And Breeding, Petr Smýkal, Clarice J. Coyne, Mike J. Ambrose, Nigel Maxted, Hanno Schaefer, Matthew W. Blair

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Economically, legumes (Fabaceae) represent the second most important family of crop plants after the grass family, Poaceae. Grain legumes account for 27% of world crop production and provide 33% of the dietary protein consumed by humans, while pasture and forage legumes provide vital part of animal feed. Fabaceae, the third largest family of flowering plants, has traditionally been divided into the following three subfamilies: Caesalpinioideae, Mimosoideae, and Papilionoideae, all together with 800 genera and 20,000 species. The latter subfamily contains most of the major cultivated food and feed crops. Among the grain legumes are some of mankind's earliest crop plants, …