AUTHOR=Qiao Zhenzhen , Pingault Lise , Nourbakhsh-Rey Mehrnoush , Libault Marc 

TITLE=Comprehensive Comparative Genomic and Transcriptomic Analyses of the Legume Genes Controlling the Nodulation Process

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2016

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2016.00034

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2016.00034

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=Nitrogen is one of the most essential plant nutrients and one of the major factors 
limiting crop productivity. Having the goal to perform a more sustainable agriculture, there 
is a need to maximize biological nitrogen fixation, a feature of legumes. To enhance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms controlling the interaction between legumes 
and rhizobia, the symbiotic partner fixing and assimilating the atmospheric nitrogen for the 
plant, researchers took advantage of genetic and genomic resources developed across 
different legume models (e.g. Medicago truncatula, Lotus japonicus, Glycine max and 
Phaseolous vulgaris) to identify key regulatory genes of the nodulation process. In this 
study, we are presenting the results of a comprehensive comparative genomic analysis to 
highlight orthologous and paralogous relationships between the legume genes controlling  nodulation. Mining large transcriptomic datasets, we also identified several orthologous 
and paralogous genes characterized by the induction of their expression during nodulation 
across legume plant species. This comprehensive study prompts new insights into the 
evolution of the nodulation process in legume plant and will benefit the scientific 
community interested in the transfer of functional genomic information between species.