- Medicago
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Medicago 
Medicago littoralis 
Medicago granadensis bur Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae (unranked): Angiosperms (unranked): Eudicots (unranked): Rosids Order: Fabales Family: Fabaceae Subfamily: Faboideae Tribe: Trifolieae Genus: Medicago
L.Type species Medicago sativa Species See text.
Synonyms Crimaea Vassilcz.[1]
Factorovskya Eig[1]
Kamiella Vassilcz.[1]
Lupulina Noulet[1]
Medica Mill.[1]
Pseudomelissitus Ovcz. et al.[1]
Radiata Medik.[1]
Rhodusia Vassilcz.[1]
Turukhania Vassilcz.[1]Medicago (family: Fabaceae, the legume family) is a genus of flowering plants, commonly known as medick or burclover. The name is based on Latin medica 'alfalfa, lucerne,' from Greek: μηδική (πόα) 'Median (grass).'[2]
The best known member of the genus is alfalfa (also called lucerne) (M. sativa), an important crop.[3] The species Medicago truncatula is a model legume[4] due to its relatively small stature, genome (450–500Mb), short generation time (~3 months) and ability to reproduce both by outcrossing and selfing.
The Medicago genus contains 83 species, including the agriculturally important alfalfa (M. sativa), and is distributed mainly around the Mediterranean basin. Comprehensive descriptions of the genus are Lesinš and Lesinš 1979[5] and Small and Jomphe 1989.[6] Major collections are SARDI (Australia),[7] USDA-GRIN (USA),[8] ICARDA (Syria),[9] and the INRA collection in Montpellier (France).[10] Several molecular phylogenies containing most of the species are available, although they differ.[11][12]
Most members of the family are low, creeping herbs, resembling clover, but with burs (hence the common name). However, alfalfa grows to a height of 1 meter, and tree medick (M. arborea) is a shrub.
Contents
Evolution
It is estimated that Medicago diverged from Glycine (soybean) 53–55 million years ago and from Lotus (deervetch) 49–51 million years ago[13]
Ecological Interactions with Other Organisms
Symbiosis With Nitrogen-fixing Rhizobia
Béna et al. (2005) constructed a molecular phylogeny of 23 Sinorhizobium strains and tested the symbiotic ability of 6 strains with 35 Medicago species.[11] Comparison of these phylogenies indicates many transitions in the compatibility of the association over evolutionary time. Furthermore, they propose that the geographical distribution of strains limits the distribution of particular Medicago species.
Agricultural Uses
Other than alfalfa, several of the creeping members of the family (such as Medicago lupulina and Medicago truncatula) have been used as forage crops.
Insect Herbivores
Medicago species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Common Swift, Flame, Latticed Heath, Lime-speck Pug, Nutmeg, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Turnip Moth and case-bearers of the genus Coleophora including C. frischella (recorded on M. sativa) and C. fuscociliella (feeds exclusively on Medicago spp).[citation needed]
List of Species
This list is compiled from.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]
- Medicago agropyretorum
- Medicago alatavica
- Medicago arabica
- Medicago arborea
- Medicago archiducis-nicolai
- Medicago astroites
- Medicago blancheana
- Medicago brachycarpa
- Medicago cancellata
- Medicago carstiensis
- Medicago caucasica
- Medicago ciliaris
- Medicago constricta
- Medicago coronata
- Medicago crassipes
- Medicago cretacea
- Medicago cyrenaea
- Medicago daghestanica
- Medicago difalcata
- Medicago disciformis
- Medicago doliata
- Medicago edgeworthii
- Medicago falcata
- Medicago fischeriana
- Medicago glomerata
- Medicago granadensis
- Medicago grossheimii
- Medicago gunibica
- Medicago heldreichii
- Medicago hemicoerulea
- Medicago heyniana
- Medicago hybrida
- Medicago hypogaea
- Medicago intertexta
- Medicago italica
- Medicago karatschaia
- Medicago komarovii
- Medicago laciniata
- Medicago lanigera
- Medicago laxispira
- Medicago littoralis
- Medicago lupulina
- Medicago marina
- Medicago medicaginoides
- Medicago meyeri
- Medicago minima
- Medicago monantha
- Medicago monspeliaca
- Medicago murex
- Medicago muricoleptis
- Medicago noeana
- Medicago orbicularis
- Medicago orthoceras
- Medicago ovalis
- Medicago papillosa
- Medicago persica
- Medicago phrygia
- Medicago pironae
- Medicago playtcarpa
- Medicago polyceratia
- Medicago polychroa
- Medicago polymorpha
- Medicago praecox
- Medicago prostrata
- Medicago radiata
- Medicago retrorsa
- Medicago rhodopea
- Medicago rigida
- Medicago rigidula
- Medicago rigiduloides
- Medicago rotata
- Medicago rugosa
- Medicago rupestris
- Medicago ruthenica
- Medicago sativa
- Medicago sauvagei
- Medicago saxatilis
- Medicago schischkinii
- Medicago scutellata
- Medicago secundiflora
- Medicago shepardii
- Medicago sinskiae
- Medicago soleirolii
- Medicago strasseri
- Medicago suffruticosa
- Medicago syriaca
- Medicago talyschensis
- Medicago tenoreana
- Medicago transoxana
- Medicago truncatula
- Medicago tunetana
- Medicago turbinata
- Medicago vardanis
- Medicago virescens
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Genus Nomenclature in GRIN". http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/gnlist.pl?1558. Retrieved 2010-07-09.
- ^ New Oxford American Dictionary (2nd ed., 2005), p. 1054, s.v. medick.
- ^ Alfalfa Crop Germplasm Committee Report, 2000
- ^ "Medicago truncatula". http://www.medicago.org/. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- ^ Lesinš, Karlis Adolfs; Lesinš, Irma (1979). Genus Medicago (Leguminosae). The Hague, The Netherlands: Dr. W. Junk bv Publishers. pp. 132. ISBN 9-06193-598-9.
- ^ Small, E. and Jomphe, M. (1989). "A Synopsis of the Genus Medicago (Leguminosae)". Canad. J. Bot. 67 (11): 3260–94. doi:10.1139/b89-405. https://article.pubs.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/RPAS/RPViewDoc?_handler_=HandleInitialGet&calyLang=eng&journal=cjb&volume=67&articleFile=b89-405.pdf&secure=true.
- ^ "SARDI". http://www.sardi.sa.gov.au/. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- ^ "GRIN National Genetic Resources Program". http://www.ars-grin.gov/. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- ^ "ICARDA Sustainable Agriculture for the Dry Areas". http://www.icarda.org/. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- ^ "INRA". http://www1.montpellier.inra.fr/BRC-MTR/. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- ^ a b Béna, G., Lyet, A., Huguet, T., and Olivier, I. (2005). "Medicago–Sinorhizobium symbiotic specificity evolution and the geographic expansion of Medicago". J. Evol. Biol. 18 (6): 1547–58. doi:10.1111/j.1420-9101.2005.00952.x. PMID 16313467.
- ^ Maureira Butler, I.J., Pfeil, B.E., Muangprom, A., Osborn, T.C. and Doyle, J.J. (2008). "The reticulate history of Medicago (Fabaceae)". Systematic Biology 57 (6): 466–482. doi:10.1080/10635150802172168. PMID 18570039.
- ^ Cannon, Steven (2008). "3. Legume Comparative Genomics". In Stacey, Gary. Genetics and Genomics of Soybean. Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models. II. New York, NY: Springer. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-387-72298-6. http://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/17513/1/IND44083204.pdf.
- ^ "ILDIS LegumeWeb". http://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
- ^ "Genera Containing Currently Accepted Names: Medicago". http://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb/6.00/names/npall/npall_445.shtml. Retrieved 2008-11-18.[dead link]
- ^ "Species Nomenclature in GRIN". http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genform.pl. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
- ^ "IPNI Plant Name Query Results". http://www.ipni.org/ipni/advPlantNameSearch.do?find_family=&find_genus=Medicago&find_species=&find_infrafamily=&find_infragenus=&find_infraspecies=&find_authorAbbrev=&find_includePublicationAuthors=on&find_includePublicationAuthors=off&find_includeBasionymAuthors=on&find_includeBasionymAuthors=off&find_publicationTitle=&find_isAPNIRecord=on&find_isAPNIRecord=false&find_isGCIRecord=on&find_isGCIRecord=false&find_isIKRecord=on&find_isIKRecord=false&find_rankToReturn=all&output_format=normal&find_sortByFamily=on&find_sortByFamily=off&query_type=by_query&back_page=plantsearch. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
- ^ "AgroAtlas - Relatives". http://www.agroatlas.spb.ru/en/content/related/#M. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
- ^ "ITIS". http://www.itis.gov/index.html. Retrieved 2009-09-16. (enter Medicago as the search term)
- ^ "Discover Life". http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Medicago. Retrieved 2010-05-11.
- ^ eFloras
- ^ The Biota of North America Program
- ^ The Plant List
Categories:- Medicago
- Flora of Asia
- Flora of Europe
- Model organisms
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