Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 114, Issue 26, Pages 6848-6853Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1700460114
Keywords
legumes; nodulation; nitrogen fixation specificity; symbiosis persistence; NCR peptides
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Funding
- US Department of Agriculture/National Institute of Food and Agriculture [2014-67013-21573, 2015-67013-22915]
- Kentucky Science and Engineer Foundation [2615-RDE-015]
- US National Science Foundation [IOS-1054980]
- European Research Council [ERC-2011-AdG-294790]
- Office Of The Director
- Office of Integrative Activities [1355438] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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The legume-rhizobial symbiosis results in the formation of root nodules that provide an ecological niche for nitrogen-fixing bacteria. However, plant-bacteria genotypic interactions can lead to wide variation in nitrogen fixation efficiency, and it is not uncommon that a bacterial strain forms functional (Fix(+)) nodules on one plant genotype but nonfunctional (Fix(-)) nodules on another. Host genetic control of this specificity is unknown. We herein report the cloning of the Medicago truncatula NFS1 gene that regulates the fixation-level incompatibility with the microsymbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti Rm41. We show that NFS1 encodes a nodulespecific cysteine-rich (NCR) peptide. In contrast to the known role of NCR peptides as effectors of endosymbionts' differentiation to nitrogen-fixing bacteroids, we demonstrate that specific NCRs control discrimination against incompatible microsymbionts. NFS1 provokes bacterial cell death and early nodule senescence in an allele-specific and rhizobial strain-specific manner, and its function is dependent on host genetic background.
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