Acceleration of Soybean Genomics Using Large Collections of DNA Markers for Gene Discovery

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Abstract
Legumes are known to provide nutritious proteins and vegetable oils while at the same time providing industrial products such as biodiesel. It is estimated that approximately 25% of world crop production is derived from legumes. Recently, knowledge of the molecular biology and genomics of legumes have been extended significantly using two model species, Lotus japonicus ( http://www.kazusa.or.jp/lotus/ ) and Medicago truncatula ( http://www.medicago.org/genome/ ). Genome sequencing of these two legumes will be completed soon and is expected to contribute to the identification and isolation of important genes involved in nitrogen fixation, seed productivity and so on. Many legume species possess the ability to establish symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and key genes involved have been extensively studied through genomic approaches. Discovery of genes in legume plants is progressing rapidly and is yielding improved quantity and quality for industrial as well as agricultural uses (see http://intl.plantphysiol.org/cgi/collection/legume_biology ).

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