Françoise de Billy

Four genes of Medicago truncatula controlling components of a Nod factor transduction pathway.

Rhizobium nodulation (Nod) factors are lipo-chitooligosaccharides that act as symbiotic signals, eliciting several key developmental responses in the roots of legume hosts. Using nodulation-defective mutants of Medicago truncatula, we have started to dissect the genetic control of Nod factor transduction. Mutants in four genes (DMI1, DMI2, DMI3, and NSP) were pleiotropically affected in Nod factor responses, indicating that these genes are required for a Nod factor–activated signal transduction pathway that leads to symbiotic responses such as root hair deformations, expressions of nodulin genes, and cortical cell divisions. Mutant analysis also provides evidence that Nod factors have a dual effect on the growth of root hair: inhibition of endogenous (plant) tip growth, and elicitation of a novel tip growth dependent on (bacterial) Nod factors. dmi1, dmi2, and dmi3 mutants are also unable to establish a symbiotic association with endomycorrhizal fungi, indicating that there are at least three common steps to nodulation and endomycorrhization in M. truncatula and providing further evidence for a common signaling pathway between nodulation and mycorrhization.

Medicago truncatula ENOD11: a novel RPRP-encoding early nodulin gene expressed during mycorrhization in arbuscule-containing cells.

Leguminous plants establish endosymbiotic associations with both rhizobia (nitrogen fixation) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (phosphate uptake). These associations involve controlled entry of the soil microsymbiont into the root and the coordinated differentiation of the respective partners to generate the appropriate exchange interfaces. As part of a study to evaluate analogies at the molecular level between these two plant-microbe interactions, we focused on genes from Medicago truncatula encoding putative cell wall repetitive proline-rich proteins (RPRPs) expressed during the early stages of root nodulation. Here we report that a novel RPRP-encoding gene, MtENOD11, is transcribed during preinfection and infection stages of nodulation in root and nodule tissues. By means of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and a promoter-reporter gene strategy, we demonstrate that this gene is also expressed during root colonization by endomycorrhizal fungi in inner cortical cells containing recently formed arbuscules. In contrast, no activation of MtENOD11 is observed during root colonization by a nonsymbiotic, biotrophic Rhizoctonia fungal species. Analysis of transgenic Medicago spp. plants expressing pMtENOD11-gusA also revealed that this gene is transcribed in a variety of nonsymbiotic specialized cell types in the root, shoot, and developing seed, either sharing high secretion/metabolite exchange activity or subject to regulated modifications in cell shape. The potential role of early nodulins with atypical RPRP structures such as ENOD11 and ENOD12 in symbiotic and nonsymbiotic cellular contexts is discussed.

EFD Is an ERF Transcription Factor Involved in the Control of Nodule Number and Differentiation in Medicago truncatula

Mechanisms regulating legume root nodule development are still poorly understood, and very few regulatory genes have been cloned and characterized. Here, we describe EFD (for ethylene response factor required for nodule differentiation), a gene that is upregulated during nodulation in Medicago truncatula. The EFD transcription factor belongs to the ethylene response factor (ERF) group V, which contains ERN1, 2, and 3, three ERFs involved in Nod factor signaling. The role of EFD in the regulation of nodulation was examined through the characterization of a null deletion mutant (efd-1), RNA interference, and overexpression studies. These studies revealed that EFD is a negative regulator of root nodulation and infection by Rhizobium and that EFD is required for the formation of functional nitrogen-fixing nodules. EFD appears to be involved in the plant and bacteroid differentiation processes taking place beneath the nodule meristem. We also showed that EFD activated Mt RR4, a cytokinin primary response gene that encodes a type-A response regulator. We propose that EFD induction of Mt RR4 leads to the inhibition of cytokinin signaling, with two consequences: the suppression of new nodule initiation and the activation of differentiation as cells leave the nodule meristem. Our work thus reveals a key regulator linking early and late stages of nodulation and suggests that the regulation of the cytokinin pathway is important both for nodule initiation and development.

Saprophytic intracellular rhizobia in alfalfa nodules.

In indeterminate alfalfa nodules, the establishment of the senescent zone IV, in which both symbionts undergo simultaneous degeneration, has been considered, until now, as the end point of the symbiotic interaction. However, we now describe an additional zone, zone V, proximal to the senescent zone IV and present in alfalfa nodules more than 6 weeks old. In zone V, a new round of bacterial release occurs from remaining infection threads, leading to the reinvasion of plant cells that have completely senesced. These intracellular rhizobia are rod shaped and do not display the ultrastructural differentiation features of bacteroids observed in the more distal zones of the nodule. Interestingly, we have found that oxygen is available in zone V at a concentration compatible with both bacterial development and nitrogen fixation gene expression in newly released rhizobia. However, this expression is not correlated with acetylene reduction. Moreover, the pattern of nifH expression in this zone, as well as new data relating to expression in zone II, strongly suggest that nifH transcription in the nodule is under the control of a negative regulator in addition to oxygen. Our results support the conclusion that zone V is an ecological niche where intracellular rhizobia take advantage of the interaction for their exclusive benefit and live as parallel saprophytic partners. The demonstration of such an advantage for rhizobia in nodules was the missing evidence that Rhizobium-legume interactions are indeed symbiotic and, in particular, suggests that benefits to the two partners are associated with different developmental stages within the nodule.

Transcription Reprogramming during Root Nodule Development in Medicago truncatula

Many genes which are associated with root nodule development and activity in the model legume Medicago truncatula have been described. However information on precise stages of activation of these genes and their corresponding transcriptional regulators is often lacking. Whether these regulators are shared with other plant developmental programs also remains an open question. Here detailed microarray analyses have been used to study the transcriptome of root nodules induced by either wild type or mutant strains of Sinorhizobium meliloti. In this way we have defined eight major activation patterns in nodules and identified associated potential regulatory genes. We have shown that transcription reprogramming during consecutive stages of nodule differentiation occurs in four major phases, respectively associated with (i) early signalling events and/or bacterial infection; plant cell differentiation that is either (ii) independent or (iii) dependent on bacteroid differentiation; (iv) nitrogen fixation. Differential expression of several genes involved in cytokinin biosynthesis was observed in early symbiotic nodule zones, suggesting that cytokinin levels are actively controlled in this region. Taking advantage of databases recently developed for M. truncatula, we identified a small subset of gene expression regulators that were exclusively or predominantly expressed in nodules, whereas most other regulators were also activated under other conditions, and notably in response to abiotic or biotic stresses. We found evidence suggesting the activation of the jasmonate pathway in both wild type and mutant nodules, thus raising questions about the role of jasmonate during nodule development. Finally, quantitative RT-PCR was used to analyse the expression of a series of nodule regulator and marker genes at early symbiotic stages in roots and allowed us to distinguish several early stages of gene expression activation or repression.

The RPG gene of Medicago truncatula controls Rhizobium-directed polar growth during infection

Rhizobia can infect roots of host legume plants and induce new organs called nodules, in which they fix atmospheric nitrogen. Infection generally starts with root hair curling, then proceeds inside newly formed, intracellular tubular structures called infection threads. A successful symbiotic interaction relies on infection threads advancing rapidly at their tips by polar growth through successive cell layers of the root toward developing nodule primordia. To identify a plant component that controls this tip growth process, we characterized a symbiotic mutant of Medicago truncatula, called rpg for rhizobium-directed polar growth. In this mutant, nitrogen-fixing nodules were rarely formed due to abnormally thick and slowly progressing infection threads. Root hair curling was also abnormal, indicating that the RPG gene fulfils an essential function in the process whereby rhizobia manage to dominate the process of induced tip growth for root hair infection. Map-based cloning of RPG revealed a member of a previously unknown plant-specific gene family encoding putative long coiled-coil proteins we have called RRPs (RPG-related proteins) and characterized by an “RRP domain” specific to this family. RPG expression was strongly associated with rhizobial infection, and the RPG protein showed a nuclear localization, indicating that this symbiotic gene constitutes an important component of symbiotic signaling.

Genetic and Cytogenetic Mapping of DMI1, DMI2, and DMI3 Genes of Medicago truncatula Involved in Nod Factor Transduction, Nodulation, and Mycorrhization

The DMI1, DMI2, and DMI3 genes of Medicago truncatula, which are required for both nodulation and mycorrhization, control early steps of Nod factor signal transduction. Here, we have used diverse approaches to pave the way for the map-based cloning of these genes. Molecular amplification fragment length polymorphism markers linked to the three genes were identified by bulked segregant analysis. Integration of these markers into the general genetic map of M. truncatula revealed that DMI1, DMI2, and DMI3 are located on linkage groups 2, 5, and 8, respectively. Cytogenetic studies using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) on mitotic and pachytene chromosomes confirmed the location of DMI1, DMI2, and DMI3 on chromosomes 2, 5, and 8. FISH-pachytene studies revealed that the three genes are in euchromatic regions of the genome, with a ratio of genetic to cytogenetic distances between 0.8 and 1.6 cM per microm in the DMI1, DMI2, and DMI3 regions. Through grafting experiments, we showed that the genetic control of the dmi1, dmi2, and dmi3 nodulation phenotypes is determined at the root level. This means that mutants can be transformed by Agrobacterium rhizogenes to accelerate the complementation step of map-based cloning projects for DMI1, DMI2, and DMI3.

api, A Novel Medicago truncatula Symbiotic Mutant Impaired in Nodule Primordium Invasion

Genetic approaches have proved to be extremely useful in dissecting the complex nitrogen-fixing Rhizobium-legume endosymbiotic association. Here we describe a novel Medicago truncatula mutant called api, whose primary phenotype is the blockage of rhizobial infection just prior to nodule primordium invasion, leading to the formation of large infection pockets within the cortex of noninvaded root outgrowths. The mutant api originally was identified as a double symbiotic mutant associated with a new allele (nip-3) of the NIP/LATD gene, following the screening of an ethylmethane sulphonate-mutagenized population. Detailed characterization of the segregating single api mutant showed that rhizobial infection is also defective at the earlier stage of infection thread (IT) initiation in root hairs, as well as later during IT growth in the small percentage of nodules which overcome the primordium invasion block. Neither modulating ethylene biosynthesis (with L-alpha-(2-aminoethoxyvinylglycine or 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid) nor reducing ethylene sensitivity in a skl genetic background alters the basic api phenotype, suggesting that API function is not closely linked to ethylene metabolism or signaling. Genetic mapping places the API gene on the upper arm of the M. truncatula linkage group 4, and epistasis analyses show that API functions downstream of BIT1/ERN1 and LIN and upstream of NIP/LATD and the DNF genes.