SummaryLupins are important grain legume crops that form a critical part of sustainable farming systems, reducing fertilizer use and providing disease breaks. It has a basal phylogenetic position relative to other crop and model legumes and a high speciation rate. Narrow‐leafed lupin (NLL; Lupinus angustifolius L.) is gaining popularity as a health food, which is high in protein and dietary fibre but low in starch and gluten‐free. We report the draft genome assembly (609 Mb) of NLL cultivar Tanjil, which has captured >98% of the gene content, sequences of additional lines and a dense genetic map. Lupins are unique among legumes and differ from most other land plants in that they do not form mycorrhizal associations. Remarkably, we find that NLL has lost all mycorrhiza‐specific genes, but has retained genes commonly required for mycorrhization and nodulation. In addition, the genome also provided candidate genes for key disease resistance and domestication traits. We also find evidence of a whole‐genome triplication at around 25 million years ago in the genistoid lineage leading to Lupinus. Our results will support detailed studies of legume evolution and accelerate lupin breeding programmes.

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Narrow-leafed lupin (NLL; Lupinus angustifolius L.) is an important grain legume crop that is valuable for sustainable farming and is becoming recognized as a human health food. NLL breeding is directed at improving grain production, disease resistance, drought tolerance and health benefits. However, genetic and genomic studies have been hindered by a lack of extensive genomic resources for the species. Here, the generation, de novo assembly and annotation of transcriptome datasets derived from five different NLL tissue types of the reference accession cv. Tanjil are described. The Tanjil transcriptome was compared to transcriptomes of an early domesticated cv. Unicrop, a wild accession P27255, as well as accession 83A:476, together being the founding parents of two recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations. In silico predictions for transcriptome-derived gene-based length and SNP polymorphic markers were conducted and corroborated using a survey assembly sequence for NLL cv. Tanjil. This yielded extensive indel and SNP polymorphic markers for the two RIL populations. A total of 335 transcriptome-derived markers and 66 BAC-end sequence-derived markers were evaluated, and 275 polymorphic markers were selected to genotype the reference NLL 83A:476 × P27255 RIL population. This significantly improved the completeness, marker density and quality of the reference NLL genetic map.

A comprehensive range of cytokinins (CK) was identified and quantified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in tissues of and in xylem and phloem serving developing white lupine (Lupinus albus) fruits. Analyses were initiated at anthesis and included stages of podset, embryogenesis, and seed filling up to physiological maturation 77 d post anthesis (DPA). In the first 10 DPA, fertilized ovaries destined to set pods accumulated CK. The proportion of cis-CK:trans-CK isomers was initially 10:1 but declined to less than 1:1. In ovaries destined to abort, the ratio of cis-isomers to trans-isomers remained high. During early podset, accumulation of CK (30-40 pmol ovary Ϫ1 ) was accounted for by xylem and phloem translocation, both containing more than 90% cis-isomers. During embryogenesis and early seed filling (40-46 DPA), translocation accounted for 1% to 14% of the increases of CK in endosperm (20 nmol fruit Ϫ1 ) and seed coat (15 nmol fruit Ϫ1 ), indicating synthesis in situ. High CK concentrations in seeds (0.6 mol g Ϫ1 fresh weight) were transient, declining rapidly to less than 1% of maximum levels by physiological maturity. These data pose new questions about the localization and timing of CK synthesis, the significance of translocation, and the role(s) of CK forms in reproductive development.

BackgroundMembers of the legume genus Lupinus exude phloem 'spontaneously' from incisions made to the vasculature. This feature was exploited to document macromolecules present in exudate of white lupin (Lupinus albus [L.] cv Kiev mutant), in particular to identify proteins and RNA molecules, including microRNA (miRNA).ResultsProteomic analysis tentatively identified 86 proteins from 130 spots collected from 2D gels analysed by partial amino acid sequence determination using MS/MS. Analysis of a cDNA library constructed from exudate identified 609 unique transcripts. Both proteins and transcripts were classified into functional groups. The largest group of proteins comprised those involved in metabolism (24%), followed by protein modification/turnover (9%), redox regulation (8%), cell structural components (6%), stress and defence response (6%) with fewer in other groups. More prominent proteins were cyclophilin, ubiquitin, a glycine-rich RNA-binding protein, a group of proteins that comprise a glutathione/ascorbate-based mechanism to scavenge oxygen radicals, enzymes of glycolysis and other metabolism including methionine and ethylene synthesis. Potential signalling macromolecules such as transcripts encoding proteins mediating calcium level and the Flowering locus T (FT) protein were also identified. From around 330 small RNA clones (18-25 nt) 12 were identified as probable miRNAs by homology with those from other species. miRNA composition of exudate varied with site of collection (e.g. upward versus downward translocation streams) and nutrition (e.g. phosphorus level).ConclusionsThis is the first inventory of macromolecule composition of phloem exudate from a species in the Fabaceae, providing a basis to identify systemic signalling macromolecules with potential roles in regulating development, growth and stress response of legumes.

Asparagine accounted for 50 to 70% of the nitrogen carried in translocatory channels serving fruit and seed of white lupin (Lupinus albus L. In many legumes asparagine is the major assimilation product of nitrogen fixation and nitrate reduction, the main nitrogenous compound exported from root to shoot in the xylem, and an important constituent of the soluble pool of nitrogen accumulating in vegetative structures during preflowering stages of the growth cycle (11). In certain genera (e.g. Lupinus and Spartium) asparagine is also the dominant nitrogenous constituent of phloem sap collected from fruits (12,13), suggesting that it is the primary nitrogen source for protein synthesis in seeds. In this study the economy of asparagine is examined during seed development of the annual white lupin (Lupinus albus L.). The pattern of delivery of the compound to the seed is related to its deamidation by an asparaginase, and its metabolic fate followed in double labeling experiments using "4C and "IN.

The assimilation of nitrate, nitrite and ammonia in barley, wheat, corn and bean leaves was studied using (15)N-labelled molecules and either leaf chamber experiments with the uptake of the nitrogen species in the transpiration stream, or vacuum-infiltration experiments. The assimilation of (15)NO3 (-) into amino nitrogen was strictly dependent on light and ceased abruptly when the light was extinguished. If the leaves were exposed to air, CO2-free air or N2 there was no effect on the rate of NO3 (-) assimilation over 0.5 h. After 1.25 h of CO2-free air, NO3 (-) assimilation into amino acids was sharply reduced. Resupply of air at this time stimulated NO3 (-) assimilation and restored it to the rate observed in leaves exposed to air only. There was no recovery by tissue pretreated for 1.25 h in N2 and subsequently resupplied with air. Incorporation of (15)NO2 (-) was also markedly dependent on light with little reduction occurring in the dark. Incorporation of (15)NH4 (+) into amino acids was stimulated 5 fold by light but considerable incorporation occurred in the dark. The presence of 100 mM NO3 (-) had no effect on the rate of incorporation of (15)NO2 (-) or (15)NH4 (+). Nitrite at 1 mM had no effect on (15)NO3 (-) incorporation but at 10 mM inhibited it completely after 0.5 h. Ammonia at 1 mM had no effect on (15)NO3 (-) or (15)NO2 (-) incorporation and while 10 mM inhibited incorporation for 0.5 h this inhibition did not persist.

Trans-isomers of cytokinins (CK) are thought to predominate and have greater biological activity than corresponding cis-isomers in higher plants. However, this study demonstrates a system within which the predominant CK are cis-isomers. CK were measured at four developmental stages in developing chickpea (Cicer arietinum L. cultivar Kaniva) seeds by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Concentrations were highest at an early endospermic fluid stage and fell considerably when the cotyledons expanded. Seed tissues were the source for isolation of the first naturally occurring CK, trans-Z (Miller, 1961;Letham, 1963). Seeds have turned out to be a rich source of CK, and in the past 30 years investigators have described a range of different CK from seed tissues (van Staden et al., 1982). This may reflect their relatively high levels in seeds (van Staden et al., 1982), a status that is believed to indicate a role for CK in establishing developing seeds as strong assimilate sinks (Brenner and Cheikh, 1995). Despite a vast literature concerning the occurrence, form, and significance of CK in plant development, the nature and site(s) of their synthesis is yet to be established. In fact, Holland (1997) recently proposed that CK are not formed by plants at all but rather by bacterial symbionts that colonize plant tissues. Although there is good evidence for the transfer of CK synthesized by Rhizobium in legume nodules (Upadhyaya et al., 1991), a role for bacteria in providing CK to roots or shoot organs needs to be investigated more thoroughly. Because unequivocal evidence for a plant isopentenyl transferase is lacking, a persistent hypothesis, which has recently been reviewed (Prinsen et al., 1997), is that the free CK in plants are not synthesized de novo but are released during tRNA turnover.Z, [9R-MP]Z, and [9R]Z have an unsaturated isopentenyl side chain that can exist in the cis or trans conformation. The cis-isomer occurs when the hydroxyl group of the isopentenyl side chain is oriented toward the N-1 position of the purine ring, whereas in the trans-isomer the hydroxyl group is oriented away from the purine ring (Korszun et al., 1989; Fig. 1). The trans-isomers of [9R]Z and Z are by far the more commonly reported forms and are considered the predominant isomers in higher plants (McGaw and Burch, 1995;Prinsen et al., 1997). Systems in which the existence of cis-CK can be demonstrated unequivocally would be significant for two reasons. First, because cis-CK show much lower activity than trans-CK in bioassays (Kaminek, 1982) and their interconversion may constitute a mechanism for reducing CK bioactivity in vivo. Second, cis-CK provide evidence for the hypothesis that the free CK pool in higher plants may be at least partially derived from the breakdown of tRNA. The major criticism of this hypothesis has been the structural distinctness between tRNA-bound CK and free-pool CK (Letham and Palni, 1983;McGaw and Burch, 1995;Prinsen et al., 1997