Functional Genomics of Legumes in Bulgaria-Advances and Future Perspectives

Members of the Leguminosae family are important crops that provide food, animal feed and vegetable oils. Legumes make a substantial contribution to sustainable agriculture and the nitrogen cycle through their unique ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in agricultural ecosystems. Over the past three decades, Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus have emerged as model plants for genomic and physiological research in legumes. The advancement of innovative molecular and genetic tools, particularly insertional mutagenesis using the retrotransposon Tnt1, has facilitated the development of extensive mutant collections and enabled precise gene tagging in plants for the identification of key symbiotic and developmental genes. Building on these resources, twelve years ago, our research team initiated the establishment of a platform for functional genomic studies of legumes in Bulgaria. In the framework of this initiative, we conducted systematic sequencing of selected mutant lines and identified genes involved in plant growth and development for detailed functional characterization. This review summarizes our findings on the functions of selected genes involved in the growth and development of the model species, discusses the molecular mechanisms underlying important developmental processes and examines the potential for the translation of this fundamental knowledge to improve commercially important legume crops in Bulgaria and globally.