06.407 - Spontaneous Nodulation Factor Snf2

Patent Reference:  International Patent Publication No. WO2008/009287.  EP Patent No. 2,044,201.

Professor Jens Stougaard
Aarhus University (Denmark) 

Researchers at the University of Aarhus led by Prof Jens Stougaard have shown that specific mutations in a gene (Snf2) encoding a cytokinin-independent histidine kinase in the model legume Lotus japonicus cause spontaneous root nodule formation in the absence of nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium species and/or their produced nodulation factors. Expression of such mutant genes may potentially be useful as a tool for establishing nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium interactions in non-nodulating plants such as cereals and for providing increased/improved nodulation in legumes.

Tirichine L, James EK, Sandal N, and Stougaard J (2006).  Spontaneous root-nodule formation in the model legume Lotus japonicus : A novel class of mutants nodulates in the absence of rhizobia.  MPMI 19(4), 373-382.

Contact: Dr Jan Chojecki 

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