{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T15:42:00Z","timestamp":1789486920175,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":99,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789430400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789430400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Plant Enviro Interactions"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>\n                    Cowpea (\n                    <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">\n                      <jats:italic>Vigna unguiculata<\/jats:italic>\n                    <\/jats:styled-content>\n                    ) is a vital crop for food security, nutrition, and climate resilience in sub\u2010Saharan African and other semi\u2010arid regions. However, its improvement is constrained by the complexity of polygenic traits such as drought tolerance, pest resistance, and seed quality. Conventional breeding, while foundational, remains insufficient to address these challenges at the required pace. Recent advances in multi\u2010omics technologies, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, provide new opportunities to dissect complex traits, identify candidate genes, and accelerate the development of resilient, high\u2010yielding cultivars. This review presents a critical synthesis of current applications of omics technologies in cowpea improvement, highlighting their contributions to stress adaptation, nutritional enhancement, and precision breeding. The review also examines key technical and institutional constraints limiting the adoption of omics\u2010assisted breeding in cowpea, including inadequate research infrastructure, challenges in multi\u2010omics data integration, and limited technical capacity across breeding programs in sub\u2010Saharan Africa. It discusses strategies to address these barriers through regional collaboration, investment in bioinformatics capacity, and the integration of computational approaches into breeding pipelines. Overall, the review concludes that combining multi\u2010omics technologies with artificial intelligence and machine learning has strong potential to improve genotype\u2013phenotype prediction, accelerate breeding decisions, and support the development of climate\u2010resilient and nutritionally enhanced cowpea cultivars.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1002\/pei3.70211","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T13:34:21Z","timestamp":1789479261000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Application of Omics Technologies for Cowpea Improvement"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"7","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-1208-3127","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Junior S.","family":"Kamara","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Crop Resources, Ministry of Agriculture Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex  Monrovia Republic of Liberia"},{"name":"Plant Breeding Programme Pan African University Life and Earth Sciences Institute (Including Health and Agriculture)  Ibadan Nigeria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7275-9903","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Festus O.","family":"Olasupo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Plant Breeding Programme Pan African University Life and Earth Sciences Institute (Including Health and Agriculture)  Ibadan Nigeria"},{"name":"Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria  Ibadan Nigeria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-0042-4326","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Abdoul\u2010Razak Oumarou","family":"Mahamane","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Crop Sciences North\u2010West University (Mahikeng Campus)  Mmabatho South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-6866-3073","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katleho S.","family":"Selele","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Plant Breeding Programme Pan African University Life and Earth Sciences Institute (Including Health and Agriculture)  Ibadan Nigeria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_16_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/21645698.2015.1129937"},{"key":"e_1_2_16_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/biom10020224"},{"key":"e_1_2_16_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1079\/IJT200696"},{"key":"e_1_2_16_5_1","first-page":"262","article-title":"The Roles of Plant Secondary Metabolites From Cowpea Floral Structures in Resistance to the Flower Bud Thrips","volume":"1","author":"Alabi O. 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