Earlier studies [1, 2] have demonstrated that a number of isoflavonoid (pterocarpan) phytoalexins [3] accumulate in excised, fungus-inoculated leaflets of species belonging to the genus Lathyrus (Leguminosae-Papilionoideae; tribe Vicieae). Apart from pisatin (3-methoxy-6a-hydroxy-8,9-methylenedioxypterocarpan, 1), the most commonly en­ countered Lathyrus phytoalexin, small quantities of three o...

Botanically beans belong to the legume tribe Phaseoleae within the Papilionoideae-Leguminosae (Freytag & Debouck 2002). Bean species are all from the Americas, and their presence in other parts of the world is due to historic movements by humans after 1492. Although Amerindians may have used several species in pre-Columbian times, only five species have been ñiUy domesticated from still existin...

Legumes are a highly diverse angiosperm family that include many agriculturally important species. To date, 21 complete chloroplast genomes have been sequenced from legume crops confined to the Papilionoideae subfamily. Here we report the first chloroplast genome from the Mimosoideae, Acacia ligulata, and compare it to the previously sequenced legume genomes. The A. ligulata chloroplast genome ...

Root nodule symbiosis (RNS) is one of the most efficient biological systems for nitrogen fixation and it occurs in 90% of genera in the Papilionoideae, the largest subfamily of legumes. Most papilionoid species show evidence of a polyploidy event that occurred approximately 58 Ma. Although polyploidy is considered to be an important evolutionary force in plants, the role of this papilionoid pol...

Legumes host their Rhizobium spp. symbiont in novel root organs called nodules. Nodules originate from differentiated root cortical cells that dedifferentiate and subsequently form nodule primordia, a process controlled by cytokinin. A whole-genome duplication has occurred at the root of the legume Papilionoideae subfamily. We hypothesize that gene pairs originating from this duplication event ...