ABSTRACT
The study of legume biology is rapidly undergoing a revolutionary transformation due to the application of genomic methods. The pace of discovery in legume biology has accelerated, fueled by the development of two model systems from within the forage legume group, namely, Lotus japonicus and Medicago truncatula for molecular genetic analysis and by the application of genomic approaches (VandenBosch and Stacey, 2003a). The impetus for the development of legume models has come primarily from researchers interested in the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis (see VandenBosch and Stacey, 2003b). Both L. japonicus and M. truncatula are now chosen as models for investigation by a large number of laboratories involved in genomics. An international multi-institutional collaboration effort to develop a complete inventory and functional analysis of the Medicago genome is underway (see VandenBosch and Stacey, 2003b). Advances have also been made in transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome analysis for legume research using L. japonicus (VandenBosch and Stacey, 2003b). The results are expected to expedite the discovery of agronomically important genes, in both model and crop legumes and to enhance understanding of gene and genome evolution within the Leguminosae (VandenBosch and Stacey, 2003b).
