Data for: Dissecting the genetic architecture of leaf morphology traits in mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wizcek) using genome‐wide association study

Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L) Wizcek) is an important pulse crop,
increasingly used as a source of protein, fiber, low fat, carbohydrates,
minerals, and bioactive compounds in human diets. Mungbean is a dicot
plant with trifoliate leaves. Leaves are central to various plant
processes like photosynthesis, light interception, and overall canopy
structure. The objectives were to study leaf morphological traits, use
image analysis to extract leaf traits from images from the Iowa Mungbean
Diversity (IMD) panel, develop a regression model for the prediction of
leaflet area, and conduct association mapping for leaf morphological
traits. We collected more than 5000 leaf images of the IMD panel
consisting of 484 accessions over two years (2020 and 2021) with two
replications per experiment. Leaf traits were extracted using image
analysis, analyzed, and used for association mapping. Morphological
diversity included leaflet type (oval or lobed), leaflet size (small,
medium, large), lobed angle (shallow, deep), and vein coloration (green,
purple). A regression model was developed to predict each ovate
leaflet's area (adjusted R2 = 0.97; residual standard errors of
<= 1.10). The candidate genes Vradi01g07560, Vradi05g01240,
Vradi02g05730, and Vradi03g00440, are associated with multiple traits
(length, width, perimeter, and area) across the leaflets (left, terminal,
and right). These are suitable candidate genes for further investigation
in their role in leaf development, growth, and function. Future studies
will be needed to correlate the observed traits discussed here with yield
or important agronomic traits for use as phenotypic or genotypic markers
in marker-aided selection methods for mungbean crop improvement.