The Model Legume Medicago truncatula: Past, Present, and Future

Legumes are indispensable as food for us, feed for our livestock, and as a major contributor towards sustainable agricultural practices. Seed development, and root nodule symbiosis in legumes are the two main areas where majority of research is focused. Though Arabidopsis thaliana is a plant model with huge publicly-available resources, a model for legumes is always needed to study the unique characteristics of this family. Since last few decades, Medicago truncatula is being used as a model for studying plant-microbe interaction, seed development, and abiotic stress on plants. Many genomic resources have been developed, including the genome sequence, spatio-temporal gene expression data, germplasm collection, and collection of different types of mutants. This chapter describes the path followed by Medicago truncatula to become a model legume, along with all the above-mentioned genomic resources in detail. We have also discussed the ways of utilizing these resources in forward and reverse genetic studies. Concerted use of these resources with genome-wide analyses, molecular breeding programmes, and latest targeted genetic editing techniques has limit-less potential of empowering legumes as future food security.