Legume rotation has allowed a consistent increase in crop yield and consequently in human population since the antiquity. Legumes will also be instrumental in our ability to maintain the sustainability of our agriculture while facing the challenges of increasing food and biofuel demand. Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus have emerged during the last decade as two major model systems for le...

UNLABELLED PREMISE OF STUDY A survey of the root-nodule symbiosis in Astragalus and its interaction with selenium (Se) has not been conducted before. Such studies can provide insight into how edaphic conditions modify symbiotic interactions and influence partner coevolution. In this paper plant-organ Se concentration ([Se]) was investigated to assess potential Se exposure to endophytes. • ...

Either NO(3) (-) (16 millimolar) or NH(4) (+) (1 millimolar) completely inhibited infection and nodulation of white clover seedlings (Trifoliin repens) inoculated with Rhizobium trifolii. The binding of R. trifolii to root hairs and the immunologically detectable levels of the plant lectin, trifoliin, on the root hair surface had parallel declining slopes as the concentration of either NO(3) (-...

Four putative apyrase genes were identified from the model legume Medicago truncatula. Two of the genes identified from M. truncatula (Mtapy1 and Mtapy4) are expressed in roots and are inducible within 3 h after inoculation with Sinorhizobium meliloti. The level of mRNA expression of the other two putative apyrases, Mtapy2 and Mtapy3, was unaffected by rhizobial inoculation. Screening of a bact...

Aeschynomene aspera L. is a wild annual legume growing in periodically waterlogged soils in Manipur, India with profuse stem nodulation. Nodules are formed on the stem at the emergence of lateral root primordia, called nodulation sites. They are distributed on vertical rows all along the stem and branches. Stem nodules are hemispherical in shaped, dark green outside and contain a red-pigmented ...

Leguminous plants form root nodules, in which symbiotic rhizobia fix atmospheric nitrogen. The nodulation process in the legume-rhizobium symbiosis consists of a series of events initiated by an exchange of specific signaling compounds between the two partners. The roots of leguminous plants secrete flavonoids, which trigger the synthesis of lipochitin-oligosac‐ charide signaling molecules, Nod...

The response of pea (Pisum sativum cv. Avola) to arbuscular micorrizal fungi (AM) species Glomus mosseae and Glomus intraradices and Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. Viciae, strain D293 regarding growth, nodulation and nitrogen fixing activity was studied. Pea plants (Pisum sativum cv. Avola) were grown in a glasshouse until flowering stage (35 days) in 4 kg plastic pots using leached cinnamonic for...

Mutualism is of fundamental importance in ecosystems. Which factors help to keep the relationship mutually beneficial and evolutionarily successful is a central question. We addressed this issue for one of the most significant mutualistic interactions on Earth, which associates plants of the leguminosae family and hundreds of nitrogen (N2)-fixing bacterial species. Here we analyze the spatio-te...

The establishment of symbiosis between leguminous plants and the soil bacteria Rhizobia is investigated using the Nar or spontaneous nodulation phenomenon, i.e. ability of some plant to develop nodulations in the absence of Rhizobium. It is shown that he spontaneous nodule organogenesis is initialized in both Nar and non-Nar plants but more or less blocked further (at the nodule primordia stage...