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Functional Plant Biology Functional Plant Biology Society
Plant function and evolutionary biology
REVIEW

Functional genomics of plant transporters in legume nodules

Vagner A. Benedito A , Xinbin Dai A , Ji He A , Patrick X. Zhao A and Michael K. Udvardi A B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, 2510 Sam Noble Parkway, Ardmore, OK 73401, USA.

B Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Golm, Germany.

C Corresponding author. Email: mudvardi@noble.org

D This paper originates from a presentation at the Third International Conference on Legume Genomics and Genetics, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, April 2006.

Functional Plant Biology 33(8) 731-736 https://doi.org/10.1071/FP06085
Submitted: 11 April 2006  Accepted: 25 May 2006   Published: 2 August 2006

Abstract

Over the past few decades, a combination of physiology, biochemistry, molecular and cell biology, and genetics has given us a basic understanding of some of the key transport processes at work in nitrogen-fixing legume nodules, especially those involved in nutrient exchange between infected plant cells and their endosymbiotic rhizobia. However, our knowledge in this area remains patchy and dispersed over numerous legume species. Recent progress in the areas of genomics and functional genomics of the two model legumes, Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus is rapidly filling the gap in knowledge about which plant transporter genes are expressed constitutively in nodules and other organs, and which are induced or expressed specifically in nodules. The latter class in particular is the focus of current efforts to understand specialised, nodule-specific roles of transporters. This article briefly reviews past work on the biochemistry and molecular biology of plant transporters in nodules, before describing recent work in the areas of transcriptomics and bioinformatics. Finally, we consider where functional genomics together with more classical approaches are likely to lead us in this area of research in the future.

Keywords: functional genomics, legume nodule, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, transporter.


Acknowledgments

We thank the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and the Max Planck Society for generous support of research in our laboratories, and the German DFG for specific funding related to legume nodule transport.


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