Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) is a global food crop with increasing importance for food security in south Asia and other regions. Lens ervoides, a wild relative of cultivated lentil, is an important source of agronomic trait variation. Lens is a member of the galegoid clade of the Papilionoideae family, which includes other important dietary legumes such as chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and pea (...

Simple sequence repeat (SSR) or microsatellite DNA markers have been shown to function well in plant and mammalian species for genetic map construction and genotype identification. The objectives of the work reported here were to search GenBank for the presence of SSR-containing sequences from the genus Medicago, to assess the presence and frequency of SSR DNA in the alfalfa (Medicago sativa (L...

A cDNA clone encoding a phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PtdIns 3-kinase) has been characterized from Medicago truncatula, Mtpi3k, that is highly homologous to their counterparts from soybean (over 84%). The results suggest the presence of at least two genes coding PtdIns 3-kinases in M. truncatula. Mtpi3k transcript levels increased in nodules, compared with non-infected roots. Strikingly, Mtpi3...

The MADS-domain transcription factor SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE plays a key role as a repressor of the transition to flowering and as a regulator of early floral development in Arabidopsis thaliana (Arabidopsis). However, no flowering-time repressors have been functionally identified in the model legume Medicago truncatula (Medicago). In this study, phylogenetic analysis of two closely-related MtSV...

Medicago truncatula is a model legume forage crop native to the arid and semi-arid environments of the Mediterranean. Given its drought-adapted nature, it is an ideal candidate to study the molecular and biochemical mechanisms conferring drought resistance in plants. Medicago plants were subjected to a progressive drought stress over 14 d of water withholding followed by rewatering under contro...

Legumes establish root symbioses with rhizobia that provide plants with nitrogen (N) through biological N fixation (BNF), as well as with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi that mediate improved plant phosphorus (P) uptake. Such complex relationships complicate our understanding of nutrient acquisition by legumes and how they reward their symbiotic partners with carbon along gradients of environ...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Sulfonylurea (SU) herbicides are used extensively in cereal-livestock farming zones as effective and cheap herbicides with useful levels of residual activity. These residues can persist beyond the cropping year, severely affecting legumes in general, and annual medics in particular, resulting in reduced dry matter production, lower seed yields and decreased nitrogen fixation...