The seed consists of several layers of specialized cell-types that divide and differentiate following a highly regulated programme in time and space. A cytological approach was undertaken in order to study the histo-differentiation at mid-embryogenesis in Medicago truncatula as a model legume, and in Pisum sativum using serial sections of embedded immature seed. Little published information is ...

Strain CCMM B554, also known as FSM-MA, is a soil dwelling and nodule forming, nitrogen-fixing bacterium isolated from the nodules of the legume Medicago arborea L. in the Maamora Forest, Morocco. The strain forms effective nitrogen fixing nodules on species of the Medicago, Melilotus and Trigonella genera and is exceptional because it is a highly effective symbiotic partner of the two most wid...

BACKGROUND Snail medic (Medicago scutellata L.) seeds exhibit a significantly higher content of a trypsin inhibitor than other Medicago species. This inhibitor belongs to the Bowman-Birk family of serine protease inhibitors (BBI) and exhibits a good sequence homology with the BBI from soybean, while presenting some differences. It has been suggested that BBIs have antitumoral and radio-protecti...

Nodules are unique organs formed on roots of legumes by soil-borne bacteria, collectively known as rhizobium. Recently, we have shown that orthologs of the AINTEGUMENTA-like (AIL) AP2 transcription factors PLETHORA (PLT) 1 to 4, that redundantly regulate Arabidopsis thaliana root development are involved in root and nodule growth in Medicago truncatula. Hence, it is conceivable that rhizobium h...

Ensifer medicae WSM244 is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rod that can exist as a soil saprophyte or as a legume microsymbiont of Medicago species. WSM244 was isolated in 1979 from a nodule recovered from the roots of the annual Medicago polymorpha L. growing in alkaline soil (pH 8.0) in Tel Afer, Iraq. WSM244 is the only acid-sensitive E. medicae strain that has been seque...

Plants have the ability to recognize and respond to a multitude of pathogens, resulting in a massive reprogramming of the plant to activate defense responses including Resistance (R) and Pathogenesis-Related (PR) genes. Abiotic stresses can also activate PR genes and enhance pathogen resistance, representing valuable genes for breeding purposes. The present work offers an overview of soybean R ...

range forage of vicia variabilis, astragalus spp., medicago sativa, prangos uloptera and sanguisorba minor was sampled during three phenological stages from the controlled rangeland stations in chaharmahal and bakhtiari province, iran. samples were analyzed for the determination of crude protein (cp%), ether extract (ee), crude fiber (cf), total ash, neutral detergent fiber (ndf), acid detergen...

Four species of entomophthoroid fungi, Pandora neoaphidis (Entomophthorales: Entomophthoraceae), Zoophthora radicans (Entomophthorales: Entomophthoraceae), Entomophthora planchoniana (Entomophthorales: Entomophthoraceae) and Neozygites fresenii (Neozygitales: Neozygitaceae) were found to infect Aphis craccivora, Therioaphis trifolii, and Acyrthosiphon pisum and unidentified species of Acyrthosi...

BACKGROUND Nanotechnology has the potential to provide agriculture with new tools that may be used in the rapid detection and molecular treatment of diseases and enhancement of plant ability to absorb nutrients, among others. Data on nanoparticle toxicity in plants is largely heterogeneous with a diversity of physicochemical parameters reported, which difficult generalizations. Here a cell biol...

Because arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) species differ in stimulating the growth of particular host plant species, AMF species may vary in their effects on plant intra-specific competition and the self-thinning process. We tested this hypothesis using a microcosm experiment with Medicago sativa L. as a model plant population and four AMF species. Our results showed that the AMF species Glom...