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Book of Abstracts <strong>First</strong> <strong>Legume</strong> <strong>Society</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> 2013: A <strong>Legume</strong> Odyssey Novi Sad, Serbia, 9-11 May 2013<br />

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Homologs of Medicago truncatula symbiotic proteins and the evolution of nitrogen<br />

fixing root nodule symbiosis<br />

Zoltán Bozsóki, Ernı Kiss, Boglárka Oláh, Gabriella Endre<br />

Biological Research Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Szeged, Hungary<br />

Symbiotic association with microbes proved to be a powerful strategy for plants to overcome<br />

nutrient limitations of their habitat. An ancient type of coexistence is the arbuscular mycorrhiza<br />

(AM) symbiosis, which is present in the majority of land plant families. The root nodule<br />

symbiosis (RNS) is more recently appeared in legumes and closely related plants with nitrogenfixing<br />

bacteria. RNS is essential in the natural nitrogen circulation of ecosystems. Crop rotation<br />

with nitrogen fixing legumes has been a successful method for centuries, by which crop lands<br />

were refreshed for horticultural cultivation, and still, biological nitrogen fixation is cost-efficient<br />

and effective solution for the continuously growing nitrogen demands of agricultural cropping all<br />

around the globe. Genetic analyses showed that the AM and RNS systems share genes,<br />

supporting the idea that already existing elements of the more ancient program were recruited<br />

during the evolution of RNS. Besides, homologous counterparts of legume symbiotic genes had<br />

been identified in non-legume plants as well. Some are able to accomplish the symbiotic function<br />

of their legume homolog, as it was proven by a number of studies. We have searched plant<br />

genomes by symbiotic genes to identify the respective homologs, t<strong>here</strong>by to show to what extent<br />

these genes are conserved outside the nodulating clades. We would like to know how the genes<br />

indispensable for RNS have specialised for their function during the evolution of plants by<br />

studying the structure and regulation of these homologous genes and comparing their protein<br />

products.<br />

Acknowledgements<br />

Hungarian OTKA Fund K76843; TÁMOP 4.2.4.A/2-11-1-2012-0001 Fund.<br />

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