Search PubMedSearch

PubMed · 42409372

Nissolia brasiliensis as a nonnodulating model legume.

Abstract

The nitrogen-fixing root nodule symbiosis is specifically formed by 4 orders of angiosperms. The largest of these 4 orders includes the legume family, the Fabaceae. Among legumes, historical model species have emerged, such as the root nodule symbiosis-forming Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus or, more recently, Aeschynomene evenia. By contrast, legume species that have lost root nodule symbiosis have been largely ignored. Here, we describe the first near chromosome-level assembly for a non-root nodule symbiosis-forming legume, the tropical Papilionoideae Nissolia brasiliensis. We compared its genome to closely related legumes and identified genes associated with root nodule symbiosis. Finally, we developed a stable transformation protocol that can be deployed in the future to reevolve root nodule symbiosis in legumes, a first step toward the goal of engineering root nodule symbiosis in nonlegume crops.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Camille Girou, Jean Keller, Cyril Libourel, Fabian van Beveren, Matheus Bianconi, Isabelle Dufau, Charlotte Cravero, Caroline Callot, Nathalie Rodde, Stéphane Cauet, Olivier Coriton, Virginie Huteau, Pierre-Marc Delaux, Tatiana Vernié. 2026-09-01. Nissolia brasiliensis as a nonnodulating model legume.. https://doi.org/10.1093/plphys%2Fkiag479

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

Evolution and Expression Divergence of Legume PAL Genes Suggest Associations with Drought Response and Root Nodule Development.

Comparative genomic analyses provide insight into the mechanisms underlying gene-family evolution and crop adaptation. Here, we used the legume phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) gene family as a model and integrated pan-genomic, phylogenetic, molecular evolutionary, duplication-mode, and transcriptomic analyses, while developing GFtool for gene family identification. Across 45 genomes, we identified 302 PAL genes and classified them into five Groups. Groups 1-3 represented ancient lineages shared with outgroups, whereas Groups 4 and 5 were legume-specific. Molecular-clock analyses placed the divergence of Group 2 near the Paleocene-Eocene transition, while Groups 4 and 5 diversified from the middle Eocene to the early Oligocene. WGD/segmental duplication broadly contributed to PAL copy-number expansion, whereas tandem duplication was enriched in Group 5 of Papilionoideae. Group 2 genes showed drought-induced expression, whereas Group 5 genes were associated with early root nodule development. GFtool provides a scalable framework for gene-family studies.

Fabaceae

Integrating genomics, multi-omics, CRISPR and speed breeding for stress-resilient vegetable legume improvement.

Vegetable legumes are nutritionally and ecologically important crops. However, their genetic improvement has not kept pace with the increasing challenges posed by climate change due to the polygenic nature of stress tolerance, narrow genetic diversity, and the persistent gap between molecular discoveries and field-level cultivar development. Although recent reviews have examined individual genomic tools or specific stress responses, a comprehensive synthesis integrating genomics-assisted breeding, multi-omics technologies, genome editing, and speed breeding within a unified crop improvement framework has been lacking. This review addresses that gap by critically evaluating how these complementary approaches can accelerate the development of stress-resilient vegetable legumes, including pea, common bean, cowpea, faba bean, cluster bean, yard-long bean, and hyacinth bean. This review synthesizes advances in QTL mapping, genome-wide association studies, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and CRISPR-based functional genomics that have identified key regulators and pathways underlying resistance to major biotic and abiotic stresses. Rather than considering these technologies independently, the review emphasizes their convergence into a systems-level breeding framework integrating genomic discovery, functional validation, predictive breeding, and accelerated generation advancement to improve breeding efficiency. Speed breeding, enabling up to seven to eight generations annually under optimized controlled-environment experimental conditions in cowpea, is discussed as a complementary strategy with genomic selection and genome editing. The review further identifies major translational bottlenecks, including transformation recalcitrance, limited genomic resources for underutilized vegetable legumes, inadequate multi-environment validation, and fragmented omics integration, and presents an integrated systems-breeding framework to bridge the gap between gene discovery and cultivar development.

Fabaceae