XVI International Botanical Congess

Research on organic reserves in Lotus has focused on root starches and sugars. Work with other forage legumes suggests that root N also has a key role in stress tolerance. For example, Medicago sativa roots accumulate three distinct polypeptides that serve as a pool of reserve N. These vegetative storage proteins constitute 1/3 of the root protein pool, and like root starch, are preferentially depleted when shoot growth resumes in spring and after defoliation in summer. Progress to improve Lotus stress tolerance is hindered, in part, by our limited understanding of organic reserves in this species, and mechanisms controlling their synthesis and degradation. This paper will review our current understanding of root organic reserves in Lotus, and propose avenues for future research.