Quantitative genetic analysis reveals potential to breed for improved white clover growth in symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

White clover () is integral to mixed pastures in New Zealand and temperate agriculture globally. It provides quality feed and a sustainable source of plant-available nitrogen (N) N-fixation through symbiosis with soil-dwelling bacteria. Improvement of N-fixation in white clover is a route to enhancing sustainability of temperate pasture production.

Condensed Tannins in White Clover () Foliar Tissues Expressing the Transcription Factor TaMYB14-1 Bind to Forage Protein and Reduce Ammonia and Methane Emissions .

Grazing ruminants contribute to global climate change through enteric methane and nitrous oxide emissions. However, animal consumption of the plant polyphenolics, proanthocyanidins, or condensed tannins (CTs) can decrease both methane emissions and urine nitrogen levels, leading to reduced nitrous oxide emissions, and concomitantly increase animal health and production. CTs are largely absent in the foliage of important temperate pasture legumes, such as white clover (), but found in flowers and seed coats.

Elevation of Condensed Tannins in the Leaves of Ta-MYB14-1 White Clover ( L.) Outcrossed with High Anthocyanin Lines.

Condensed tannins (CT) are highly desirable in forage as they sequester dietary protein and reduce bloat and methane emissions in ruminants. However, the widely used forage legume white clover () only produces CTs in flowers and trichomes and at levels too low to achieve therapeutic effects. Genetic transformation with transcription factor from was effective in inducing CTs to 0.

Anthocyanin leaf markings are regulated by a family of R2R3-MYB genes in the genus Trifolium.

Anthocyanin pigments accumulate to form spatially restricted patterns in plants, particularly in flowers, but also occur in vegetative tissues. Spatially restricted anthocyanin leaf markings are poorly characterised in plants, but are common in forage legumes. We hypothesised that the molecular basis for anthocyanin leaf markings in Trifolium spp.