Genetics and genomics of the beneficial root symbioses

豆科植物约有20,000种，在农业上的重要性仅次于谷类作物。它是人类饮食中蛋白质和油的来源，是动物饲料和饲料作物的极好基础。该科植物中的许多物种还具有药用价值(例如，促进健康的次生代谢物和必需矿物质)和观赏特性，其中一些被用于染料和木材的生产。豆科植物具有丰富的氮素生活方式，也是天然肥料的重要来源，对全球氮循环做出了非常重要的贡献。在这方面特别重要的是豆类与有益的土壤细菌和真菌的共生关系，它们为寄主植物提供氮、磷和其他土壤养分，并负责相当大比例的植物农业产量。通过应用现代分子遗传学和基因组学工具，本提案中描述的研究将大大增加对豆类固氮过程潜在机制的了解。从长远来看，该项目的成果预计将有助于开发对农业和环境具有重要意义的更有效的固氮品种。

The legume family, encompassing some 20,000 species, is second only to cereal crops in agricultural importance.  It provides a source of proteins and oil in the human diet and constitutes an excellent basis of fodder and forage crops for animals.  Many species of this family are also valued for their medicinal (e.g. essential minerals and health promoting secondary metabolites) and ornamental properties and some are being used in the production of dyes and timber.  Legumes, with their nitrogen-rich life style, also constitute an important source of natural fertilizer and contribute very significantly to the global nitrogen cycle. Of particular importance in this context are the symbiotic associations of legumes with beneficial soil bacteria and fungi, which provide the host plant with nitrogen, phosphorus, and other soil nutrients and are responsible for a significant proportion of the plant agricultural output. By applying modern molecular genetic and genomics tools, the research described in this proposal will significantly add to the knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the nitrogen-fixation process in legumes. In the long term, the outcome of this project is expected to contribute to the development of more efficient nitrogen-fixing cultivars that are of importance to agriculture and the environment.