First published online October 27, 2006; 10.1104/pp.106.089508
Plant Physiology 142:1739-1750 (2006)
© 2006 American Society of Plant Biologists
PLANTS INTERACTING WITH OTHER ORGANISMS
Lotus japonicus Nodulation Requires Two GRAS Domain Regulators, One of Which Is Functionally Conserved in a Non-Legume1,[C],[W]
Anne B. Heckmann,
Fabien Lombardo,
Hiroki Miwa2,
Jillian A. Perry,
Sue Bunnewell,
Martin Parniske3,
Trevor L. Wang and
J. Allan Downie*
Department of Molecular Microbiology (A.B.H., F.L., H.M., J.A.D.), Department of Metabolic Biology (J.A.P., T.L.W.), and Department of Cell and Developmental Biology (S.B.), John Innes Centre, Norwich NR4 7UH, United Kingdom; and Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich, NR4 7UH United Kingdom (M.P.)
A new nodulation-defective mutant of Lotus japonicus does not initiate nodule cortical cell division in response to Mesorhizobium loti, but induces root hair deformation, Nod factor-induced calcium spiking, and mycorrhization. This phenotype, together with mapping data, suggested that the mutation could be in the ortholog of the Medicago truncatula NSP1 gene (MtNSP1). The sequence of the orthologous gene (LjNSP1) in the L. japonicus mutant (Ljnsp1-1) revealed a mutation causing a premature stop resulting in loss of the C-terminal 23 amino acids. We also sequenced the NSP2 gene from L. japonicus (LjNSP2). A mutant (Ljnsp2-3) with a premature stop codon was identified by TILLING showing a similar phenotype to Ljnsp1-1. Both LjNSP1 and LjNSP2 are predicted GRAS (GAI, RGA, SCR) domain transcriptional regulators. Transcript steady-state levels of LjNSP1 and LjNSP2 initially decreased and then increased following infection by M. loti. In hairy root transformations, LjNSP1 and MtNSP1 complemented both Mtnsp1-1 and Ljnsp1-1 mutants, demonstrating that these orthologous proteins have a conserved biochemical function. A Nicotiana benthamiana NSP1-like gene (NbNSP1) was shown to restore nodule formation in both Ljnsp1-1 and Mtnsp1-1 mutants, indicating that NSP1 regulators from legumes and non-legumes can propagate the Nod factor-induced signal, activating appropriate downstream targets. The L. japonicus nodules complemented with NbNSP1 contained some cells with abnormal bacteroids and could fix nitrogen. However, the NbNSP1-complemented M. truncatula nodules did not fix nitrogen and contained very few bacteria released from infection threads. These observations suggest that NSP1 is also involved in infection, bacterial release, and normal bacteroid formation in nodule cells.
1 This work was supported by the European Union (Marie Curie Ph.D. fellowship RTNCT2003505227 to A.B.H.) via the INTEGRAL network, by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, by the Gatsby Charitable Foundation (to the Sainsbury Laboratory), by the John Innes Foundation, and by the Universities UK Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme (H.M.).
2 Present address: Biotechnology Research Centre, University of Tokyo, Yayoi 1-1-1 Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 1138657, Japan.
3 Present address: University of Munich, Department of Biology, Genetics, Marie-Ward-Str. 1a, D80638 Munich, Germany.
The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: J. Allan Downie (allan.downie{at}bbsrc.ac.uk).
[C] Some figures in this article are displayed in color online but in black and white in the print edition.
[W] The online version of this article contains Web-only data.
www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.106.089508
* Corresponding author; e-mail allan.downie{at}bbsrc.ac.uk; fax 44(0)1603450045.
Received September 5, 2006;
accepted October 19, 2006;
published October 27, 2006.
This article has been cited by other articles:

|
 |

|
 |
 
M. Libault, T. Joshi, V. A. Benedito, D. Xu, M. K. Udvardi, and G. Stacey
Legume Transcription Factor Genes: What Makes Legumes So Special?
Plant Physiology,
November 1, 2009;
151(3):
991 - 1001.
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
J. Perry, A. Brachmann, T. Welham, A. Binder, M. Charpentier, M. Groth, K. Haage, K. Markmann, T. L. Wang, and M. Parniske
TILLING in Lotus japonicus Identified Large Allelic Series for Symbiosis Genes and Revealed a Bias in Functionally Defective Ethyl Methanesulfonate Alleles toward Glycine Replacements
Plant Physiology,
November 1, 2009;
151(3):
1281 - 1291.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
E. Kiss, B. Olah, P. Kalo, M. Morales, A. B. Heckmann, A. Borbola, A. Lozsa, K. Kontar, P. Middleton, J. A. Downie, et al.
LIN, a Novel Type of U-Box/WD40 Protein, Controls Early Infection by Rhizobia in Legumes
Plant Physiology,
November 1, 2009;
151(3):
1239 - 1249.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
W. Capoen, J. Den Herder, J. Sun, C. Verplancke, A. De Keyser, R. De Rycke, S. Goormachtig, G. Oldroyd, and M. Holsters
Calcium Spiking Patterns and the Role of the Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Kinase CCaMK in Lateral Root Base Nodulation of Sesbania rostrata
PLANT CELL,
May 1, 2009;
21(5):
1526 - 1540.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
S. Hirsch, J. Kim, A. Munoz, A. B. Heckmann, J. A. Downie, and G. E.D. Oldroyd
GRAS Proteins Form a DNA Binding Complex to Induce Gene Expression during Nodulation Signaling in Medicago truncatula
PLANT CELL,
February 1, 2009;
21(2):
545 - 557.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
S. Okamoto, E. Ohnishi, S. Sato, H. Takahashi, M. Nakazono, S. Tabata, and M. Kawaguchi
Nod Factor/Nitrate-Induced CLE Genes that Drive HAR1-Mediated Systemic Regulation of Nodulation
Plant Cell Physiol.,
January 1, 2009;
50(1):
67 - 77.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
K. Yokota, E. Fukai, L. H. Madsen, A. Jurkiewicz, P. Rueda, S. Radutoiu, M. Held, M. S. Hossain, K. Szczyglowski, G. Morieri, et al.
Rearrangement of Actin Cytoskeleton Mediates Invasion of Lotus japonicus Roots by Mesorhizobium loti
PLANT CELL,
January 1, 2009;
21(1):
267 - 284.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
W. Capoen and G. Oldroyd
How CYCLOPS keeps an eye on plant symbiosis
PNAS,
December 23, 2008;
105(51):
20053 - 20054.
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
M. Crespi and F. Frugier
De Novo Organ Formation from Differentiated Cells: Root Nodule Organogenesis
Sci. Signal.,
December 9, 2008;
1(49):
re11 - re11.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
T. Vernie, S. Moreau, F. de Billy, J. Plet, J.-P. Combier, C. Rogers, G. Oldroyd, F. Frugier, A. Niebel, and P. Gamas
EFD Is an ERF Transcription Factor Involved in the Control of Nodule Number and Differentiation in Medicago truncatula
PLANT CELL,
October 1, 2008;
20(10):
2696 - 2713.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
H. Zhu, T. Chen, M. Zhu, Q. Fang, H. Kang, Z. Hong, and Z. Zhang
A Novel ARID DNA-Binding Protein Interacts with SymRK and Is Expressed during Early Nodule Development in Lotus japonicus
Plant Physiology,
September 1, 2008;
148(1):
337 - 347.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
A. Andriankaja, A. Boisson-Dernier, L. Frances, L. Sauviac, A. Jauneau, D. G. Barker, and F. de Carvalho-Niebel
AP2-ERF Transcription Factors Mediate Nod Factor Dependent Mt ENOD11 Activation in Root Hairs via a Novel cis-Regulatory Motif
PLANT CELL,
September 1, 2007;
19(9):
2866 - 2885.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
W. Capoen, J. Den Herder, S. Rombauts, J. De Gussem, A. De Keyser, M. Holsters, and S. Goormachtig
Comparative Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Common and Specific Tags for Root Hair and Crack-Entry Invasion in Sesbania rostrata
Plant Physiology,
August 1, 2007;
144(4):
1878 - 1889.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
M. K. Udvardi, K. Kakar, M. Wandrey, O. Montanari, J. Murray, A. Andriankaja, J.-Y. Zhang, V. Benedito, J. M.I. Hofer, F. Chueng, et al.
Legume Transcription Factors: Global Regulators of Plant Development and Response to the Environment
Plant Physiology,
June 1, 2007;
144(2):
538 - 549.
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
J. F. Marsh, A. Rakocevic, R. M. Mitra, L. Brocard, J. Sun, A. Eschstruth, S. R. Long, M. Schultze, P. Ratet, and G. E.D. Oldroyd
Medicago truncatula NIN Is Essential for Rhizobial-Independent Nodule Organogenesis Induced by Autoactive Calcium/Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinase
Plant Physiology,
May 1, 2007;
144(1):
324 - 335.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|

|
 |

|
 |
 
Y. Murakami, H. Miwa, H. Imaizumi-Anraku, H. Kouchi, J. A. Downie, M. Kawaguchi, and S. Kawasaki
Positional Cloning Identifies Lotus japonicus NSP2, A Putative Transcription Factor of the GRAS Family, Required for NIN and ENOD40 Gene Expression in Nodule Initiation
DNA Res,
January 1, 2006;
13(6):
255 - 265.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
 |
|
|
|