The legume family (Leguminosae) consists of approximately 17 000 species and those used as crops provide protein and carbohydrates for over 300 million people world-wide. O’Rourke et al. review how next-generation sequencing technologies and associated bioinformatic analyses have allowed individual researchers to assemble genomes, identify gene-coding regions and study gene expression patterns. To illustrate the power of next-generation sequencing in elucidating gene networks underlying biological processes, they present two example studies: an analysis of gene expression profiles in soybean oil seed development and an analysis of phosphate deficiency altering gene expression patterns to induce cluster root formation in white lupin.
