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 genus 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 [link]

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 [link]

Symbiosis With Nitrogen-fixing Rhizobia [link]

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 [link]

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 [link]

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 [link]

This list is compiled from.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23]

References [link]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Genus Nomenclature in GRIN". https://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/gnlist.pl?1558. Retrieved 2010-07-09. 
  2. ^ New Oxford American Dictionary (2nd ed., 2005), p. 1054, s.v. medick.
  3. ^ Alfalfa Crop Germplasm Committee Report, 2000
  4. ^ "Medicago truncatula". https://www.medicago.org/. Retrieved 2008-11-21. 
  5. ^ Lesinš, Karlis Adolfs; Lesinš, Irma (1979). Genus Medicago (Leguminosae). The Hague, The Netherlands: Dr. W. Junk bv Publishers. pp. 132. ISBN 90-6193-598-9. 
  6. ^ 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. 
  7. ^ "SARDI". https://www.sardi.sa.gov.au/. Retrieved 2008-11-21. 
  8. ^ "GRIN National Genetic Resources Program". https://www.ars-grin.gov/. Retrieved 2008-11-21. 
  9. ^ "ICARDA Sustainable Agriculture for the Dry Areas". https://www.icarda.org/. Retrieved 2008-11-21. 
  10. ^ "INRA". https://www1.montpellier.inra.fr/BRC-MTR/. Retrieved 2008-11-21. 
  11. ^ a b Béna, G., Lyet, A., Huguet, T., and Olivier, I. (2005). "MedicagoSinorhizobium 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. 
  12. ^ 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. 
  13. ^ 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. https://ddr.nal.usda.gov/bitstream/10113/17513/1/IND44083204.pdf. 
  14. ^ "ILDIS LegumeWeb". https://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb. Retrieved 2008-11-18. 
  15. ^ "Genera Containing Currently Accepted Names: Medicago". https://www.ildis.org/LegumeWeb/6.00/names/npall/npall_445.shtml. Retrieved 2008-11-18. [dead link]
  16. ^ "Species Nomenclature in GRIN". https://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genform.pl. Retrieved 2008-11-18. 
  17. ^ "IPNI Plant Name Query Results". https://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. 
  18. ^ "AgroAtlas - Relatives". https://www.agroatlas.spb.ru/en/content/related/#M. Retrieved 2008-11-22. 
  19. ^ "ITIS". https://www.itis.gov/index.html. Retrieved 2009-09-16.  (enter Medicago as the search term)
  20. ^ "Discover Life". https://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Medicago. Retrieved 2010-05-11. 
  21. ^ eFloras
  22. ^ The Biota of North America Program
  23. ^ The Plant List

https://wn.com/Medicago

Podcasts:

PLAYLIST TIME:

Medac

by: Who

Henry Pond had no fun
Had a face like a currant bun
This adolescent little fella
Was nicknamed by his friends "Old Yella"
The doctors gave him creams and lotions
To try to sooth the boys emotions
But all in vain; the acne stayed
Henry's hopes began to fade
Then, when just about to crack
He found another cream - Medac
When Henry in the mirror peered
His pimples all had disappeared
Henry laughed and yelled "I got 'em!




×