Abstract
In order to investigate the whole genetic system of legume species, we have been analyzing the genome of a model legume, Lotus japonicus.
Combining clone-by-clone sequencing of large insert clones selected from gene-rich regions with random genome sequencing, genome sequence information covering approximately 90% of the L. japonicus ESTs has been accumulated. The accumulated sequence information was subjected to automatic assignment of protein-coding genes, and as a result, 31000 gene structures could be identified. General features of the gene composition of the L. japonicus genome were surveyed using predicted gene information, and significant increase of gene number compare to Arabidopsis thaliana was observed in several gene families, such as ARF family transcription factor and LysM family receptor-like kinase.
The latest status of the genome project and the features of the L. japonicus genome appearing from the functional annotation and comparative genome analysis will be presented.
