Root-knot nematodes and bacterial Nod factors elicit common signal transduction events in Lotus japonicus.

ABSTRACT: The symbiosis responsible for nitrogen fixation in legume root nodules is initiated by rhizobial signaling molecules [Nod factors (NF)]. Using transgenically tagged microtubules and actin, we dynamically profiled the spatiotemporal changes in the cytoskeleton of living Lotus japonicus root hairs, which precede root-hair deformation and reflect one of the earliest host responses to NF. Remarkably, plant-parasitic root-knot nematodes (RKN) invoke a cytoskeletal response identical to that seen in response to NF and induce root-hair waviness and branching in legume root hairs via a signal able to function at a distance. Azide-killed nematodes do not produce this signal. A similar response to RKN was seen in tomato. Aspects of the host responses to RKN were altered or abolished by mutations in

SUBMITTER: Weerasinghe RR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC549434 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature