Résumé
Cultivated groundnut is an important self-pollinating tetraploid oilseed and cash crop adversely affected by biotic and abiotic stresses leading to reduced yield. Factors such as evolution, domestication, and replacement of landraces by modern cultivars have narrowed down the genetic base in groundnut breeding, making wild relatives an unrivalled resource. Although enormous variability exists in the wild relatives of genus Arachis, ploidy level differences between wild and cultivated species limit their use in crop improvement. Pre-breeding helps overcome this problem by developing intermediate genetic material (synthetics) that breeders can use for broadening the genetic base. Pre-breeding populations and introgression lines (ILs) with desirable alleles have been developed by crossing these synthetics with cultigens. Meanwhile, the involvement of cross-incompatible germplasm and linkage drag makes the pre-breeding resource-intensive and time-consuming. However, the recent breakthroughs in genomic resources help overcome linkage drag via genomics-assisted pre-breeding, simplifying the transfer of useful exotic gene/gene segments for genetic enhancement. Furthermore, the growing demand for sequencing wild genomes along with precise gene-editing technologies will accelerate the transformation of Arachis wild relatives into future cultivars with improved resilience.