Since the introduction of Stylosanthes, a range legume, in India in early seventies extensive efforts have been made for its evaluation and adaptation. However limited germplasm and narrow genetic base were major impediments in its wider adaptations. Of late, introduction of several new improved germplasm including newly identified species, cultivars and bred materials from Australia, Colombia,...

Reduction of lignin levels in the forage legume alfalfa (Medicago sativa) by down-regulation of the monolignol biosynthetic enzyme hydroxycinnamoyl coenzyme A:shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT) results in strongly increased digestibility and processing ability of lignocellulose. However, these modifications are often also associated with dwarfing and other changes in plant growth. Giv...

Reduction of lignin levels in the forage legume alfalfa (Medicago sativa) by down-regulation of the monolignol biosynthetic enzyme hydroxycinnamoyl coenzyme A:shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT) results in strongly increased digestibility and processing ability of lignocellulose. However, these modifications are often also associated with dwarfing and other changes in plant growth. Giv...

Legumes play an important role as food and forage crops in international agriculture especially in developing countries. Legumes have a unique biological process called nitrogen fixation (NF) by which they convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia. Although legume genomes have undergone polyploidization, duplication and divergence, NF-related genes, because of their essential functional role for ...

This year marks the essential completion of the genome sequences of soybean (Glycine max), barrel medic (Medicago truncatula), and birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus japonicus). The impact of these assembled, annotated genomes will be enormous. Birdsfoot trefoil and barrel medic, both forage crops, are the preeminent laboratory plants used in legume research. Monetarily, soybean is the most valuable prot...

In the next decades, forage legumes are likely to become more important. However, predicted climate change may increase the risk of droughts and thus influence their agricultural performance. Decreases in yield due to water shortage are well documented, while influences on nutritive values are inconsistent. Therefore, we examined the effects of drought on crude protein (CP), neutral deterge...

Grasspea (GP) (Lathyrus sativus) is a drought-tolerant legume that can be grown for forage and grain. It has potential value to be used as a nitrogen-fixing crop in dryland rotations with non-legume grain crops. However, the agronomy of GP for the Central Great Plains region have not been investigated. The objective of this research was to compare the grain and biomass yield, as well as N accum...