大豆(Glycinemax)是一种重要的供给粮食和动物饲料的主要农作物。作为豆科植物的一员,大豆与一种被称之为根瘤菌的土壤细菌形成了复杂的共生关系,结果导致新的根器官——根瘤的形成。在这个吸引人的新器官中,被植物所囚禁的根瘤菌能把空气中的氮气转换为可利用的氮肥。在巴西,有助于增加种子收成的细菌菌株借助微生物学手段已经被分离出来。目前,现代遗传学、生物技术学、生理学、生物化学和基因组学使得分离根瘤形成过程中的关键基因成为现实。综合这些研究发现了诱导,并随后控制细胞分裂的一种新的分子机制。笔者所在的研究小组已经在大豆中克隆到了根瘤菌结瘤因子信号的关键受体,以及一些在复杂的根—茎—根信号传递途径中的分子组分,这些组分涉及到肽类激素,受体激酶和小的信号代谢产物。上述发现表明提高大豆产量和抗逆性的大豆改良进入一个新的阶段。 Glycinemax is an important staple food for grain and animal feed. As a member of legumes, soybeans form a complex symbiotic relationship with a soil bacterium called Rhizobium, resulting in the formation of a new root nodule, nodules. In this appealing new organ, rhizobia, trapped in plants, convert nitrogen from the air into usable nitrogen fertilizer. In Brazil, bacterial strains that help increase seed yields have been isolated by microbiological methods. At present, modern genetics, biotechnology, physiology, biochemistry and genomics make the isolation of key genes in nodule formation a reality. Combining these studies found a new molecular mechanism of induction and subsequent control of cell division. The author’s team has cloned the key receptors for the rhizobia nodulation signal in soybeans and some of the molecular components in the complex root-stem-root signaling pathways that involve peptide hormones, Receptor kinases and small signal metabolites. The above findings indicate that the soybean improvement that increases soybean yield and stress resistance is entering a new phase.