Sato et al. ( 2008 ) reported thefirst whole genome
sequence of Legume plants usingL. japonicus
“Miyakojima MG-20.”Currently, large amounts
of important bioresources such as experimental
strains, mutants, and DNA libraries have been
developed through numerous independent
research programs and scientific research pro-
jects. These bioresources will continue to serve
as valuable materials for basic and applied
studies. The National BioResource Project
(NBRP) was launched by the Japanese govern-
ment in 2002 with the objective of collecting,
conserving, and distributing such valuable,
independent resources and making them easily
available for the larger research community. At
present, the NBRP is a consortium of 28 core
facilities of animal, plant, microorganisms, and
DNA resources, and an information center
(Yamazaki et al. 2010 ). NBRP plant consists of
nine resources:Arabidopsis(Arabidopsis thali-
ana), rice (Oryza sativa),Lotus/Glycine, wheat
(Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare),
tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), Chrysanthe-
mum, morning glory (Ipomoea nil), and algae
(Kurata et al. 2010 ). As a part of this project, the
L. japonicusandG. maxprogram was developed
beginning at the end of 2003. Here, we will
provide an overview of the Lotus resources
available from the NBRP Lotus and Glycine
database site, called“LegumeBase.”
22.2 Experimental Strains
Two important experimental strains ofL. japo-
nicus,“Gifu B-129”and“Miyakojima MG-20,”
have become global standards for legume
research along withMedicago truncatula.“Gifu
B-129”was thefirst established experimentalL.
japonicusstrain, collected by Hirayoshi in Gifu
Prefecture Japan, named by Grant and self-pol-
linated nine times by Stougaard (Handberg and
Stougaard 1992 ; Stougaard and Beuselink 1996 ).
More recently, Kawaguchi ( 2000 ) established the
“Miyakojima MG-20”strain by self-pollinating
L. japonicus strains from Miyakojima Island,
Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. This strain is char-
acterized by a short generation time andflowers
easily underfluorescent lights. Although clearly
of the same species, “Gifu B-129”and “Mi-
yakojima MG-20”have very different morpho-
logical traits.“Gifu B-129”has an erect growth
pattern and anthocyanin accumulation in the
stem.“Miyakojima MG-20”is an early-flower-
ing plant with a creeping growth habit that lacks
stem anthocyanin. In addition, the leaflets and
petals of“Miyakojima MG-20”are wider than
those of“Gifu B-129,”stems and petioles are
thicker, and seeds are darker and larger. The third
Lotusexperimental strain,Lotus burttiiB-303,
was collected in Pakistan, named by Burtt (Sz-
Borso et al. 1972 ) and self-pollinated nine times
by Kawaguchi et al. ( 2005 ). There is a great
demand for these experimental strains that have
played central roles in studying legume-specific
characteristics such as nodulation, and large
numbers of mutants have been isolated in the
past two decades (Charpentier and Oldroyd
2010 ; Kawaguchi et al. 2002 ; Novák 2010 ; Popp
and Ott 2011 ; Szczyglowski et al. 1998 ). All of
these experimental strains are available from
“LegumeBase”(Table22.1).22.3 Wild AccessionsGenetic variation ofLotusis expected to have a
broad range sinceLotusadapts readily to diverse
environmental conditions, such as temperature or
soil type. The strains that we currently maintain
and distribute at“LegumeBase”were collected
across several climatic zones from as far north as
Rebun Island, Hokkaido (45 ̊ 17 ′ 46 ′′N) to Mi-
yakojima Island, Okinawa (24 ̊ 43 ′ 57 ′′N) to the
south (Fig.22.1). These strains were collected
mainly for three purposes: (1) to evaluate the
potential ofL. japonicusas a pasture plant by
Shimada in 1979 and for the Gene Bank Project
of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries of Japan in 1981 (Suginobu et al.
1988 ); (2) to assess the suitability of this plant
species to serve as a model organism for legu-
minous plants by Kawaguchi and Aoki since
1996 (Kawaguchi et al. 2001 ); and (3) to collect
L. japonicus bioresources for the NBRP. At
present, 180 accessions are stocked and 108246 M. Hashiguchi and R. Akashi