Medicago truncatula as a model for understanding plant interactions with other organisms, plant development and stress biology: past, present and future

Abstract

Medicago truncatula Gaertn. cv. Jemalong, a pasture species used in Australian agriculture, was first proposed as a model legume in 1990. Since that time M. truncatula, along with Lotus japonicus (Regal) Larsen, has contributed to major advances in understanding rhizobia Nod factor perception and the signalling pathway involved in nodule formation. Research using M. truncatula as a model has expanded beyond nodulation and the allied mycorrhizal research to investigate interactions with insect pests, plant pathogens and nematodes. In addition to biotic stresses the genetic mechanisms to ameliorate abiotic stresses such as salinity and drought are being investigated. Furthermore, M. truncatula is being used to increase understanding of plant development and cellular differentiation, with nodule differentiation providing a different perspective to organogenesis and meristem biology. This legume plant represents one of the major evolutionary success stories of plant adaptation to its environment, and it is particularly in understanding the capacity to integrate biotic and abiotic plant responses with plant growth and development that M. truncatula has an important role to play. The expanding genomic and genetic toolkit available with M. truncatula provides many opportunities for integrative biological research with a plant which is both a model for functional genomics and important in agricultural sustainability.