Didymella pinodes is the principal causal agent of ascochyta blight, one of the most important fungal diseases of pea (Pisum sativum) worldwide. Understanding its host specificity has crucial implications in epidemiology and management; however, this has not been clearly delineated yet. In this study we attempt to clarify the host range of D. pinodes and to compare it with that of other close D...

We report the high-quality draft genome sequence of Xanthomonas alfalfae subsp. alfalfae strain CFBP 3836, the causal agent of bacterial leaf and stem spot in lucerne (Medicago sativa). Comparative genomics will help to decipher the mechanisms provoking disease and triggering the defense responses of this pathogen of the model legume Medicago truncatula.

The establishment of a nitrogen-fixing symbiosis is an economically important plant phenomenon. Biological reduction of dinitrogen to ammonia is among the most effective fixation systems facilitating the plant growth in nitrogen starved soils without the requirement of massive inputs of fertilizers. This process occurs in legumes roots in structures called nodules. Nodule development is induced...

conclusions the results of the present study revealed that soil resources of these areas were contaminated with opportunistic amoebas such as acanthamoeba and hartmannella spp. and this may lead to severe diseases in high-risk people, such as immunocompromised patients. background free-living amoebas are very abundant in nature, especially in water and soil. some species of amoebas cause seriou...

The timing of the transition to flowering is carefully controlled by plants in order to optimize sexual reproduction and the ensuing production of seeds, grains, and fruits. The genetic networks that regulate floral induction are best characterized in the temperate eudicot Arabidopsis in which the florigen gene FT plays a major role in promoting the transition to flowering. Legumes are an impor...

FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) genes encode proteins that function as the mobile floral signal, florigen. In this study, we characterized five FT-like genes from the model legume, Medicago (Medicago truncatula). The different FT genes showed distinct patterns of expression and responses to environmental cues. Three of the FT genes (MtFTa1, MtFTb1, and MtFTc) were able to complement the Arabidopsis (Ara...

Plant genomes contain several hundred defensin-like (DEFL) genes that encode short cysteine-rich proteins resembling defensins, which are well known antimicrobial polypeptides. Little is known about the expression patterns or functions of many DEFLs because most were discovered recently and hence are not well represented on standard microarrays. We designed a custom Affymetrix chip consisting o...

Expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana MYB transcription factor TRANSPARENT TESTA 2 (TT2) in Medicago trunculata hairy roots induces both proanthocyanidin accumulation and the ATP-dependent vacuolar/vesicular uptake of epicatechin 3'-O-glucoside; neither process is active in control roots that do, however, possess anthocyanidin 3-O-glucoside vacuolar uptake activity. A vacuolar membrane-localiz...