Comparative analysis of Medicago truncatula mutants deficient in NCR peptides essential for symbiotic nitrogen fixation

Medicago truncatula, belonging to the inverted repeat-lacking clade (IRLC) of legumes is able to establish one of the most effective nitrogen-fixing symbiotic interaction with the symbiotic partner Sinorhizobium spp. In the infected cells of the M. truncatula nodules, rhizobial genome undergo morphological and metabolic transformation. This differentiation is irreversible in species belonging to the IRLC legumes and this process is driven by the family of the nodule-specific cysteine rich (NCR) peptides produced by the plant. In the M. truncatula genome, approximately 700 genes encode NCR peptides. The high number of genes can imply that the function of NCR peptides may overlap or partially…