The demonstration of a single origin for nodule evolution, with nodule engineering in a non-nodulating species
Kundu, A.; Price, R. J.; Sanchez, E. R.; Reyna-Llorens, I.; Jhu, M.-Y.; Gao, J.-P.; Moraes, T. A.; Marangelli, F.; Libourel, C.; Keller, J.; Brooks, J.; Harwood, W.; Wallington, E. J.; Delaux, P.-M.; Harrison, R. J.; Oldroyd, G. E. D.
Show abstract
The nitrogen-fixing root-nodule symbiosis provides a sustainable source of nitrogen for plants within the Nitrogen (N)-fixing clade (NFC). A debate has raged over whether nodulation evolved once, with many losses or multiple times following a predisposition event. Here we demonstrate that nodule-organogenesis is fully conserved between an actinorhizal nodulator Datisca glomerata and the legume Medicago truncatula, showing entirely conserved programmes for Nodule INception (NIN)-controlled development leading to nodule emergence. Convergent losses of N-fixation within the NFC is associated with loss of NIN and we show the engineering of nodule-like development into strawberry, a non-nodulating member of the NFC, through the repair of NIN-functionality. Similar NIN-engineering resulted in altered-root developmental responses in barley. Our work is consistent with the single-gain hypothesis, where repair of NIN can recapitulate nodules in species within the NFC, demonstrating that understanding the ancestral state of nodulation facilitates its engineering.
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