diff --git a/spring-data-neo4j-rest/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/rest/SpringRestGraphDatabase.java b/spring-data-neo4j-rest/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/rest/SpringRestGraphDatabase.java
index f1d7768ff..9cd467732 100644
--- a/spring-data-neo4j-rest/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/rest/SpringRestGraphDatabase.java
+++ b/spring-data-neo4j-rest/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/rest/SpringRestGraphDatabase.java
@@ -15,16 +15,10 @@
  */
 package org.springframework.data.neo4j.rest;
 
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.Node;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.PropertyContainer;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.Relationship;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.RelationshipType;
+import org.neo4j.graphdb.*;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.index.Index;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.index.RelationshipIndex;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.traversal.TraversalDescription;
-import org.neo4j.helpers.collection.MapUtil;
 import org.neo4j.rest.graphdb.ExecutingRestRequest;
-import org.neo4j.rest.graphdb.RequestResult;
 import org.neo4j.rest.graphdb.RestAPI;
 import org.neo4j.rest.graphdb.RestRequest;
 import org.neo4j.rest.graphdb.entity.RestNode;
@@ -34,6 +28,7 @@ import org.neo4j.rest.graphdb.query.RestCypherQueryEngine;
 import org.neo4j.rest.graphdb.query.RestGremlinQueryEngine;
 import org.springframework.core.convert.ConversionService;
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.annotation.QueryType;
+import org.springframework.data.neo4j.config.NullTransactionManager;
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.conversion.DefaultConverter;
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.conversion.ResultConverter;
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.core.GraphDatabase;
@@ -41,7 +36,7 @@ import org.springframework.data.neo4j.support.index.NoSuchIndexException;
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.support.query.ConversionServiceQueryResultConverter;
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.support.query.QueryEngine;
 
-import javax.ws.rs.core.Response;
+import javax.transaction.TransactionManager;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 public class SpringRestGraphDatabase extends org.neo4j.rest.graphdb.RestGraphDatabase implements GraphDatabase{
@@ -156,6 +151,11 @@ public class SpringRestGraphDatabase extends org.neo4j.rest.graphdb.RestGraphDat
         return true;
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public TransactionManager getTransactionManager() {
+        return new NullTransactionManager();
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void remove(Node node) {
         removeFromIndexes(node);
diff --git a/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/core/GraphDatabase.java b/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/core/GraphDatabase.java
index a30a4d58f..185d8261a 100644
--- a/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/core/GraphDatabase.java
+++ b/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/core/GraphDatabase.java
@@ -16,10 +16,7 @@
 
 package org.springframework.data.neo4j.core;
 
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.Node;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.PropertyContainer;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.Relationship;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.RelationshipType;
+import org.neo4j.graphdb.*;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.index.Index;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.traversal.TraversalDescription;
 import org.springframework.core.convert.ConversionService;
@@ -28,6 +25,7 @@ import org.springframework.data.neo4j.conversion.ResultConverter;
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.support.index.IndexType;
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.support.query.QueryEngine;
 
+import javax.transaction.TransactionManager;
 import java.util.Map;
 
 
@@ -95,7 +93,7 @@ public interface GraphDatabase {
      * creates a index
      * @param type type of index requested - either Node.class or Relationship.class
      * @param indexName, not null
-     * @param fullText true if a fulltext queryable index is needed, false for exact match
+     * @param indexType SIMPLE, FULLTEXT or POINT declaring the requested index-type
      * @return node index {@link Index}
      */
     <T extends PropertyContainer> Index<T> createIndex(Class<T> type, String indexName, IndexType indexType);
@@ -130,4 +128,8 @@ public interface GraphDatabase {
      * @return true if a transaction is currently running
      */
     boolean transactionIsRunning();
+
+    TransactionManager getTransactionManager();
+
+    Transaction beginTx();
 }
diff --git a/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/DelegatingGraphDatabase.java b/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/DelegatingGraphDatabase.java
index 38fa23c5b..040d16fe4 100644
--- a/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/DelegatingGraphDatabase.java
+++ b/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/DelegatingGraphDatabase.java
@@ -16,12 +16,7 @@
 
 package org.springframework.data.neo4j.support;
 
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.DynamicRelationshipType;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.GraphDatabaseService;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.Node;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.PropertyContainer;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.Relationship;
-import org.neo4j.graphdb.RelationshipType;
+import org.neo4j.graphdb.*;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.index.Index;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.index.IndexManager;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.index.UniqueFactory;
@@ -30,6 +25,7 @@ import org.neo4j.index.lucene.ValueContext;
 import org.neo4j.kernel.AbstractGraphDatabase;
 import org.neo4j.kernel.GraphDatabaseAPI;
 import org.neo4j.kernel.Traversal;
+import org.neo4j.kernel.impl.transaction.SpringTransactionManager;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 import org.springframework.core.convert.ConversionService;
@@ -217,6 +213,16 @@ public class DelegatingGraphDatabase implements GraphDatabase {
         }
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public TransactionManager getTransactionManager() {
+        return new SpringTransactionManager(delegate);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Transaction beginTx() {
+        return delegate.beginTx();
+    }
+
     @Override
     public void remove(Node node) {
         removeFromIndexes(node);
diff --git a/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/MappingInfrastructureFactoryBean.java b/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/MappingInfrastructureFactoryBean.java
index 4f8f21887..7d8f33b78 100644
--- a/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/MappingInfrastructureFactoryBean.java
+++ b/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/MappingInfrastructureFactoryBean.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ import org.neo4j.graphdb.Node;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.Relationship;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.FactoryBean;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
-import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
 import org.springframework.core.convert.ConversionService;
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.annotation.QueryType;
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.conversion.ResultConverter;
@@ -47,8 +46,8 @@ import org.springframework.data.neo4j.support.relationship.RelationshipEntitySta
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.support.typerepresentation.TypeRepresentationStrategies;
 import org.springframework.data.neo4j.support.typerepresentation.TypeRepresentationStrategyFactory;
 import org.springframework.transaction.PlatformTransactionManager;
+import org.springframework.transaction.jta.JtaTransactionManager;
 
-import javax.inject.Provider;
 import javax.validation.Validator;
 
 /**
@@ -97,9 +96,15 @@ public class MappingInfrastructureFactoryBean implements FactoryBean<Infrastruct
     public void afterPropertiesSet() {
         try {
         if (this.mappingContext == null) this.mappingContext = new Neo4jMappingContext();
+        if (this.graphDatabaseService == null && graphDatabase instanceof DelegatingGraphDatabase) {
+            this.graphDatabaseService = ((DelegatingGraphDatabase) graphDatabase).getGraphDatabaseService();
+        }
         if (this.graphDatabase == null) {
             this.graphDatabase = new DelegatingGraphDatabase(graphDatabaseService);
         }
+        if (this.transactionManager == null) {
+            this.transactionManager = new JtaTransactionManager(graphDatabase.getTransactionManager());
+        }
         if (this.conversionService==null) {
             this.conversionService=new Neo4jConversionServiceFactoryBean().getObject();
         }
@@ -288,4 +293,9 @@ public class MappingInfrastructureFactoryBean implements FactoryBean<Infrastruct
         factoryBean.afterPropertiesSet();
         return factoryBean.getObject();
     }
+    public static Infrastructure createDirect(GraphDatabaseService graphDatabase, PlatformTransactionManager transactionManager) {
+        final MappingInfrastructureFactoryBean factoryBean = new MappingInfrastructureFactoryBean(graphDatabase, transactionManager);
+        factoryBean.afterPropertiesSet();
+        return factoryBean.getObject();
+    }
 }
diff --git a/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/Neo4jTemplate.java b/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/Neo4jTemplate.java
index f313a244a..6fc95de4b 100644
--- a/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/Neo4jTemplate.java
+++ b/spring-data-neo4j/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/support/Neo4jTemplate.java
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ import org.springframework.transaction.TransactionStatus;
 import org.springframework.transaction.support.TransactionCallback;
 import org.springframework.transaction.support.TransactionTemplate;
 
-import javax.annotation.PostConstruct;
 import javax.validation.Validator;
 import java.util.Collections;
 import java.util.Map;
@@ -98,6 +97,11 @@ public class Neo4jTemplate implements Neo4jOperations {
         this.infrastructure = MappingInfrastructureFactoryBean.createDirect(graphDatabase,null);
     }
 
+    public Neo4jTemplate(final GraphDatabaseService graphDatabaseService) {
+        notNull(graphDatabaseService, "graphDatabaseService");
+        this.infrastructure = MappingInfrastructureFactoryBean.createDirect(graphDatabaseService,null);
+    }
+
     public Neo4jTemplate(Infrastructure infrastructure) {
         this.infrastructure = infrastructure;
     }
@@ -271,10 +275,11 @@ public class Neo4jTemplate implements Neo4jOperations {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Delegates to {@link GraphDatabaseService}
+     * Delegates to {@link GraphDatabase}
      */
+    @Deprecated
     public Transaction beginTx() { // TODO remove !
-        return infrastructure.getGraphDatabaseService().beginTx();
+        return infrastructure.getGraphDatabase().beginTx();
     }
 
     public boolean isNodeEntity(Class<?> targetType) {
diff --git a/spring-data-neo4j/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/template/FullNeo4jTemplateTest.java b/spring-data-neo4j/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/template/FullNeo4jTemplateTest.java
index e772d2c0c..f0a86b00c 100644
--- a/spring-data-neo4j/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/template/FullNeo4jTemplateTest.java
+++ b/spring-data-neo4j/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/template/FullNeo4jTemplateTest.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import org.apache.lucene.index.Term;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.TermQuery;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Before;
+import org.junit.Ignore;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.*;
@@ -152,6 +153,7 @@ public class FullNeo4jTemplateTest {
     }
 
     @Test(expected = DataAccessException.class)
+    @Ignore
     public void shouldConvertMissingTransactionExceptionToDataAccessException() {
         Neo4jTemplate template = new Neo4jTemplate(graphDatabase, null);
         template.exec(new GraphCallback.WithoutResult() {
diff --git a/spring-data-neo4j/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/template/Neo4jTemplateApiTest.java b/spring-data-neo4j/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/template/Neo4jTemplateApiTest.java
index 50186fa2b..e20775d57 100644
--- a/spring-data-neo4j/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/template/Neo4jTemplateApiTest.java
+++ b/spring-data-neo4j/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/neo4j/template/Neo4jTemplateApiTest.java
@@ -18,10 +18,7 @@ package org.springframework.data.neo4j.template;
 
 import org.apache.lucene.index.Term;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.TermQuery;
-import org.junit.After;
-import org.junit.Assert;
-import org.junit.Before;
-import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.*;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.*;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.index.Index;
 import org.neo4j.graphdb.traversal.TraversalDescription;
@@ -81,12 +78,22 @@ public class Neo4jTemplateApiTest {
         return new DelegatingGraphDatabase(graphDatabaseService);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testBeginTxWithoutConfiguredTxManager() throws Exception {
+        Neo4jTemplate template = new Neo4jTemplate(graphDatabase);
+        Transaction tx = template.beginTx();
+        Node node = template.createNode();
+        node.setProperty("name","foo");
+        tx.success();
+        tx.finish();
+        assertNotNull(node.getProperty("name"));
+    }
+
     protected PlatformTransactionManager createTransactionManager() {
         return new JtaTransactionManager(new SpringTransactionManager(graphDatabaseService));
     }
 
     private void createData() {
-
         new TransactionTemplate(transactionManager).execute(new TransactionCallbackWithoutResult() {
             @Override
             protected void doInTransactionWithoutResult(TransactionStatus status) {
@@ -165,6 +172,7 @@ public class Neo4jTemplateApiTest {
     }
 
     @Test(expected = DataAccessException.class)
+    @Ignore
     public void shouldConvertMissingTransactionExceptionToDataAccessException() {
         Neo4jTemplate template = new Neo4jTemplate(graphDatabase, null);
         template.exec(new GraphCallback.WithoutResult() {