Overview
Medicago truncatula, a close relative of alfalfa, is a preeminent model for the study of the processes of nitrogen fixation, symbiosis, and legume genomics. The sequencing project was initiated with a generous grant from Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation to the University of Oklahoma. In 2003 (and renewed in 2006), the National Science Foundation and the European Union's Sixth Framework Programme provided funding to complete sequencing of the euchromatic genespace. Sequencing was conducted in the US by the NSF-funded projects, in France by Genoscope with funding from the EU and INRA, and in the United Kingdom with funding from the EU and BBSRC.