Legume genomes: more than peas in a pod.
A growing array of sequence-based tools is helping to reveal the organization, evolution and syntenic relationships of legume genomes. The results indicate that legumes form a coherent taxonomic group with frequent and widespread macro- and microsynteny. This is good news for two model legume systems, Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus. Indeed, both models have recently been used to clone and characterize genes for nodulation-related receptors that were originally described in legumes with more complex genomes. Studies of legume genomes have also provided insight into genome size, gene clustering, genome duplications and repetitive elements. To understand legume genomes better, it will be necessary to develop tools for studying under-represented taxa beyond the relatively small group of economically important species that have been examined so far.
Young
Nevin Dale
ND
Department of Plant Pathology, 495 Borlaug Hall, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota 55108, USA. neviny@umn.edu
Mudge
Joann
J
Ellis
T H Noel
TH
D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000235:genetics*; D018745:Genome, Plant; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny