Identification of genetic factors responsible for symbiotic effectiveness in pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Aleksandr Zhernakov¹, Oksana Shtark², Olga Kulaeva³, Igor Tikhonovich⁴, Vladimir Zhukov^5
1All-Russia Research Institute for Agricultural Microbiology, azhernakov@arriam.ru
²All-Russia Research Institute for Agricultural Microbiology, oshtark@yandex.ru
³All-Russia Research Institute for Agricultural Microbiology, okulaeva@arriam.ru
⁴All-Russia Research Institute for Agricultural Microbiology; Saint-Petersburg State University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, arriam2008@yandex.ru
⁵All-Russia Research Institute for Agricultural Microbiology, vzhukov@arriam.ru

Legumes (Leguminosae, syn. Fabaceae) develop two highly integrated mutually beneficial endosymbioses, namely nitrogen-fixing root nodules with rhizobia bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhiza that makes them a key component of modern technologies for crop production. We applied the comparative transcriptome analysis for identification of pea genes essential for effective symbiosis with beneficial soil microbes. The allelic forms of the two identified genes most likely have a significant effect on the effectiveness of symbiosis pea with rhizobia bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhiza.