Ensifer medicae strain WSM1115 forms effective nitrogen fixing symbioses with a range of annual Medicago species and is used in commercial inoculants in Australia. WSM1115 is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rod. It was isolated from a nodule recovered from the root of burr medic (Medicago polymorpha) collected on the Greek Island of Samothraki. WSM1115 has a broad host rang...

Aphid-plant interactions depend on genotypes of both organisms, which determine the two-way molecular exchange that leads to compatible or incompatible outcomes. The underlying genes are mostly unknown, making it difficult to predict likelihood of aphid success or host resistance, and hampering crop genetic improvement. Here we screened eight pea aphid clonal genotypes collected from diverse le...

Parasitic species of the family Orobanchaceae are devastating agricultural pests in many parts of the world. The control of weedy Orobanchaceae spp. is challenging, particularly due to the highly coordinated life cycles of the parasite and host plants. Although host genetic resistance often provides the foundation of plant pathogen management, few genes that confer resistance to root parasites ...

BURP domain-containing proteins belong to a newly identified protein class that is unique to plants and plays an important role in plant development and metabolism. Although systematic characterization of BURP domain-containing proteins have been carried out in many species, such as rice, poplar and maize, little is known about BURP domain-containing proteins in Medicago. In this study, multipl...

Received July 21, 1939 HE two species, Medicago satiua and M . falcata, are commonly T considered as varieties of one highly polymorphic species, since they intercross readily (WALDRON 1920, TYSDAL and WESTOVER 1937) and all intergradations between the two main types may be found. M . falcata, however, exists in both the diploid and tetraploid form (FRYER 1930)~ and it is only as the tetraploid...

Legumes (Fabaceae, Leguminosae) are unique in their ability to carry out an elaborate endosymbiotic nitrogen fixation process with rhizobia proteobacteria. The symbiotic nitrogen fixation enables the host plants to grow almost independently of any other nitrogen source. Establishment of symbiosis requires adaptations of the host cellular metabolism, here foremost of the energy metabolism mainly...

Genome sequencing of the model legumes, Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus, provides an opportunity for large-scale sequence-based comparison of two genomes in the same plant family. Here we report synteny comparisons between these species, including details about chromosome relationships, large-scale synteny blocks, microsynteny within blocks, and genome regions lacking clear corresponden...