Legumes have several distinct advantages as experimental material: this is why we chose to investigate them.
- are significant to human food, animal feed and biofuel;
- have a major ecosystem contribution;
- are genetically, ecologically and developmentally diverse;
- perform key plant processes, such as nutrient uptake, photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation, specialised metabolite biosynthesis, seed, root, flower and leaf development, disease (biotic) and abiotic (i.e., drought, acidity) stress responses;
- They enter a complex symbiotic interaction with soil bacteria to develop de novo a new organ, namely the nitrogen root nodule;
- They are often larger plants, allowing effective biochemical analysis of gene products;
- They have a large data base in genomics (four genomes sequenced by 2011), transcriptome profiling, proteomics, metabolomics and biochemistry, plant physiology, and agronomy due to the significance of major legume crops.
