Lipo-chitooligosaccharide Nodulation Signals from Rhizobium meliloti Induce Their Rapid Degradation by the Host Plant Alfalfa

Extracellular enzymes from alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) involved in the degradation of nodulation (Nod) factors could be distinguished by their different cleavage specificities and were separated by lectin affinity chromatography. A particular glycoprotein was able to release an acylated lipo-disaccharide from all tested Nod factors having an oligosaccharide chain length of four or five residues. Structural modifications of the basic lipo-chitooligosaccharide did not affect the cleavage site and had only weak influence on the cleavage efficiency of Nod factors tested. The acylated lipo-trisaccharide was resistant to degradation. When alfalfa roots were preincubated with Nod factors at nanomolar concentrations, the activity of the dimer-forming enzyme was stimulated up to 6-fold within a few hours. The inducing activity of Nod factors decreased in the order NodRm-IV(C16:2,Ac,S) > NodRm-IV(C16:2,S) and NodRm-V(C16:2,Ac,S) > NodRm-V(C16:2,S) > NodRm-IV(C16:0,S) > NodRm-IV(C16:2). Pretreatment with NodRm-III(C16:2) as well as unmodified chitooligosaccharides did not stimulate the dimer-forming enzyme. Roots preincubated with Rhizobium meliloti showed similar stimulation of the dimer-forming activity. Mutant strains unable to produce Nod factors did not enhance the hydrolytic activity. These results indicate a rapid feedback inactivation of Nod signals after their perception by the host plant alfalfa.     

Nod signal-induced plasma membrane potential changes in alfalfa root hairs are differentially sensitive to structural modifications of the lipochitooligosaccharide

Lipochitooligosaccharide Nod signals are important determinants of host specificity in the Rhizobium -legume symbiosis. The most rapid response of plant cells to the R. meliloti Nod signal NodRm-IV(C16:2,S) reported so far is the depolarization of the plasma membrane potential in alfalfa root hairs. In order to investigate whether this response may be part of a specific signal transduction cascade involved in the nodulation process, its specificity was studied with respect to host-specific modifications of the lipochitooligosaccharide. Five different Nod factors displaying different degrees of activity in inducing root hair deformation or cortical cell divisions on alfalfa were tested. The ability of the Nod factors to elicit plasma membrane depolarization correlated well with their activity in the bioassays. Removal of the sulfate group (NodRm-IV(C16:2)) led to inactivation of the Nod factor. An increase in the length of the chitooligosaccharide backbone (NodRm-V(C16:2,S)) or saturation of the acyl chain (NodRm-IV(C16:0,S)) resulted in severely reduced activity. In contrast, the O -acetyl group at the non-reducing terminus in NodRm-IV(Ac,C16:2,S), which confers substantially higher activity in long-term bioassays, did not enhance plasma membrane depolarization significantly in comparison with the non- O -acetylated factor. Thus, the rapid plasma membrane response is differentially sensitive to various structural motifs of the lipochitooligosaccharide. These data suggest that the different substituents modifying the basic Nod factor structure may have distinct functions, not all of them contributing to the interaction with a putative receptor in root hair cells. However, the overall specificity of the membrane depolarization for the cognate Nod factors raises the possibility that it is involved in a Nod signal transduction pathway.     

Characterization of a binding site for chemically synthesized lipo-oligosaccharidic NodRm factors in particulate fractions prepared from roots

This paper describes the characteristics of a binding site for the major, lipo-oligosaccharide Nod factor of Rhizobium meliloti in roots of the symbiotic host plant, Medicago truncatula. Chemically synthesized NodRm-IV(Ac, S, C16:2) was labelled by tritiation to a specific activity of 56 Ci mmol^?1 and this ligand was shown to be biologically active in the root hair deformation assay at 10^?11 M. Binding of the ligand to a particulate fraction from roots of M. truncatula was found to be saturable and reversible with an affinity (K_d) of 86 nM and the binding characteristics were consistent with a single class of binding sites. Competition with modified Nod factors showed that the binding was independent of both the O-acetyl and the sulphyl group and did not depend on the unsaturation of the fatty acid. However, both moieties of the lipo-oligosaccharide are required for high-affinity binding since tetra-N-acetyl-chitotetraose and palmitate were found to be poor competitors of ligand binding. A binding site with analogous characteristics was also found in a similarly prepared particulate fraction of tomato roots. This binding site for Nod factors, termed NFBS1, which is present in both a leguminous and a non-leguminous plant, may have a more general role than symbiosis.     

Role of plant defence in alfalfa during symbiosis

During effective symbiosis, rhizobia colonize their hosts, and avoid plant defence mechanisms. To determine whether the host defence responses can be elicited by the symbiotic bacteria, specific markers involved in incompatible pathogenic interactions are required. The available markers of alfalfa defence mechanisms are described and their use in the study of the symbiotic interaction discussed. As defence-related gene expression in roots is not always related to defence mechanisms, other model systems have been established allowing confirmation of an important role of bacterial surface components in alfalfa-Rhizobium meliloti interactions. Nod factors at high concentrations have been shown to elicit defence-like responses in Medicago cell suspensions and roots. Elicitation of defence mechanisms by high levels of Nod factors in Rhizobium-infected roots may be a part of the mechanism by which nodulation is feed-back regulated.The authors are with the Institut des Sciences Végétales, CNRS, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cédex, France.     

Perception and Signal Transduction of Rhizobial NOD Factors

Referee: Dr. Gary Stacey, Director, Center for Legume Research, Department of Microbiology, M409 Walters Life Science Bldg., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37966-0845 Soil bacteria belonging to genera Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Allorhizobium, Azorhizobium, Mesorhizobium, and Sinorhizobium are able to induce nodule formation on the roots of leguminous plants. In the differentiated root nodules bacteria fix as bacteroids atmospheric nitrogen and deliver it to the host plant. The interaction between bacteria and host plant starts with a complex signal exchange. After induction by plant flavonoids, rhizobia synthesize and secrete lipo-chitooligosaccharides (LCOs), known as Nod factors, which induce morphological changes and expression of early nodulin genes in the roots of host plants. Specific recognition of Nod factors by host plants and early stages of signal transduction are discussed.     

Distinct response of Medicago suspension cultures and roots to Nod factors and chitin oligomers in the elicitation of defense-related responses

The induction of plant defense-related responses by chitin oligomers and the Rhizobium meliloti lipo-chito-oligosaccharide nodulation signals (Nod factors) in Medicago cell cultures and roots was investigated by following the expression of genes encoding enzymes of the isoflavonoid biosynthetic pathway, such as chalcone synthase, chalcone reductase, isoflavone reductase, as well as genes encoding a pathogenesis-related protein and a peroxidase. In suspension-cultured cells, all genes except the peroxidase gene were induced by both the R. meliloti Nod factor NodRm-IV(C16:2,S) and chitin oligomers with a minimum of three sugar residues. However, activation of these genes was not elicited by the symbiotically inactive, desulfated NodRm-IV(C16:2). Moreover, the cells were more sensitive to the chitin oligosaccharides than to the Nod factor. Analysis of flavonoids in Medicago microcallus cultures revealed differences between cells treated with N -acetyl-chitotetraose and those treated with Nod factor and demonstrated increased production of the phytoalexin medicarpin in the presence of Nod factor. In Medicago roots, none of the tested genes was activated by the N -acetylchitotetraose, whereas the Nod factor at micro-molar concentration enhanced transient expression of the isoflavonoid biosynthetic genes. The differential responses to Nod factors and chitin oligomers suggest that Medicago cells possess distinct perception systems for these related molecules.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhizobium leguminosarum</Emphasis> bv. <Emphasis Type="Italic">trifolii rosR</Emphasis> is required for interaction with clover,biofilm formation and adaptation to the environment

Background  

Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii is a symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacterium that elicits nodules on roots of host plants Trifolium spp. Bacterial surface polysaccharides are crucial for establishment of a successful symbiosis with legumes that form indeterminate-type nodules, such as Trifolium, Pisum, Vicia, and Medicago spp. and aid the bacterium in withstanding osmotic and other environmental stresses. Recently, the R. leguminosarum bv. trifolii RosR regulatory protein which controls exopolysaccharide production has been identified and characterized.     

Nod factors modulate the concentration of cytosolic free calcium differently in growing and non-growing root hairs of Medicago sativa L.

Using Ca²⁺-selective microelectrodes, the concentration of free calcium ([Ca²⁺]) in the cytosol has been measured in root hair cells of Medicago sativa L. in the presence of nodulation (Nod) factors. Growing root hairs of M. sativa displayed a steep apical [Ca²⁺] gradient, i.e. 604–967 nM in the tip compared with 95–235 nM in the basal region. When tested within the first 5 to 10 μm of the tip, addition of NodRm-IV(C16:2,S) decreased the cytosolic [Ca²⁺], whereas an increase was observed when tested behind the tip. Overall, this led to a partial dissipation of the [Ca²⁺] gradient. The Ca²⁺ response was specific: it was equally well observed in the presence of NodRm-IV(Ac,C16:2,S), reduced with NodRm-IV(C16:0,S), but not with chitotetraose, the nonactive glucosamine backbone. In contrast to growing root hairs, non-growing root hairs without a tip-to-base cytosolic [Ca²⁺] gradient responded to NodRm-IV(C16:2,S) with an increase in cytosolic [Ca²⁺] at the tip as well as at the root hair base. We suggest that the response to Nod factors depends on the stage of development of the root hairs, and that changes in cytosolic [Ca²⁺] may play different roles in Nod-factor signaling: changes of cytosolic [Ca²⁺] in the apical part of the root hair may be related to root hair deformation, while the increase in [Ca²⁺] behind the tip may be essential for the amplification of the Nod signal, for its propagation and transduction to trigger downstream events. Received: 5 January 1999 / Accepted: 14 April 1999     

Rapid alkalinization in alfalfa root hairs in response to rhizobial lipochitooligosaccharide signals

Rhizobial lipochitooligosaccharides (Nod factors) function as symbiotic signals that trigger root hair deformations and cortical cell divisions on the roots of leguminous plants in a host-specific manner. By using pH-sensitive microelectrodes, it is shown that alfalfa root hair cells respond to Rhizobium meliloti Nod factors with a rapid intracellular alkalinization of 0.2–0.3 pH units. This alkalinization remained as long as the Nod factor was present, but slowly reversed after removal of the signal. The response was most sensitive to the sulfated tetrameric Nod factor, NodRm-IV(C16:2,S), which is morphogenic on the host plant alfalfa, suggesting a role in a signal transduction cascade. Non-sulfated Nod factor as well as chitooligosaccharides elicited a pH_c change only at elevated concentrations. The increase of PH_c in response to sulfated Nod factor was concomitant with a depolarization of the plasma membrane potential whereas the PH_c change in response to non-sulfated Nod factor occurred in the absence of membrane depolarization. In addition, whereas a first dose of sulfated Nod factor inhibited the subsequent response to a second dose of the same molecule, it did not significantly repress the activity of non-sulfated Nod factor. These results indicate that sulfated and non-sulfated Nod factors act independently and suggest the existence of two Nod signal perception systems, one transmitting the host-specific signal, the other representing an ancient reception system for a generic Nod factor structure.     

The maintenance of intraspecific biodiversity: the interplay of selection on resource use and on natural enemy resistance in the pea aphid

Biodiversity has both intraspecific and interspecific components, and speciation is the process through which the former is converted to the latter. Ecological factors can cause population divergence and differentiation. In this paper, we investigate the interplay between top-down effects from natural enemies and bottom-up effects from host plants in an aphid model system. Pea aphids, Acyrthosiphon pisum, are known to form host-adapted races on Trifolium and Medicago. Here, replicate clones of pea aphids collected from a broader set of five host plant genera are screened for their performance on the same set of host plants and also for their resistance to four natural enemies: the parasitoids Aphidius eadyi and Aphidius ervi, and the entomopathogenic fungi Pandora (=Erynia) neoaphidis and Zoophthora phalloides. The populations showed clear adaptation to their host plant from which they were collected, but they also performed well on Vicia. Performance on the other three plant species was poor. The aphid population collected from Lotus was significantly better at defending itself against the parasitoid A. eadyi, and there was a tendency for the clones from Trifolium to be resistant to the pathogen P. neoaphidis. These patterns highlight the importance of understanding the ecological processes influencing speciation in the context of the web of ecological adaptations within which a species is embedded.     

Feeding responses of an oligophagous bean aphid, Megoura crassicauda, to primary and secondary substances in Vicia angustifolia

The feeding behaviour of the aphid Megoura crassicauda Mordivilko (Homoptera: Aphididae), which feeds selectively on plants in the genus Vicia (Fabaceae), was studied. The aphids deposited proteinaceous stylet sheaths intercellularly towards the phloem tissues of host plants. Similar stylet sheaths were formed on a Parafilm membrane when host‐specific acylated flavonoid glycosides [two 2″‐O‐(E)‐p‐coumaroyl esters of quercetin 3‐O‐diglycosides] present in the extracts of the narrow vetch, Vicia angustifolia L., were supplied in the solution covered by the membrane. In contrast, their corresponding deacyl analogues, present more abundantly in the host plant tissues, were not stimulatory, which suggested specificity in the structural requirements of the probing stimulants. While the aphids imbibed an artificial diet composed of primary nutrients (e.g., sucrose and amino acids) and produced a large quantity of honeydew, acylated flavonoids alone and non‐acylated flavonoids supplied with the nutrients more or less suppressed honeydew production. These findings implied that the acylated flavonoids serve as a cue to navigate the stylet sheath towards the phloem prior to sap‐sucking, whereas non‐acylated flavonoids may serve as a negative stimulus to refrain from sucking during tissue penetration before tapping the phloem, although the distribution of these compounds in the plant tissues remains unknown. Thus, the feeding behaviour of M. crassicauda appears to be controlled by multiple chemical stimuli in the process of the settling on its host plant.     

How alfalfa root hairs discriminate between Nod factors and oligochitin elicitors

Using ion-selective microelectrodes, the problem of how signals coming from symbiotic partners or from potential microbial intruders are distinguished was investigated on root hairs of alfalfa (Medicago sativa). The Nod factor, NodRm-IV(C16:2,S), was used to trigger the symbiotic signal and (GlcNAc)(8) was selected from (GlcNAc)(4-8), to elicit defense-related reactions. To both compounds, root hairs responded with initial transient depolarizations and alkalinizations, which were followed by a hyperpolarization and external acidification in the presence of (GlcNAc)(8). We propose that alfalfa recognizes tetrameric Nod factors and N-acetylchitooligosaccharides (n = 4-8) with separate perception sites: (a) (GlcNAc)(4) and (GlcNAc)(6) reduced the depolarization response to (GlcNAc)(8), but not to NodRm-IV(C16:2, S); and (b) depolarization and external alkalization were enhanced when NodRm-IV(C16:2,S) and (GlcNAc)(8) were added jointly without preincubation. We suggest further that changes in cytosolic pH and Ca(2+) are key events in the transduction, as well as in the discrimination of signals leading to symbiotic responses or defense-related reactions. To (GlcNAc)(8), cells responded with a cytosolic acidification, and they responded to NodRm-IV(C16:2,S) with a sustained alkalinization. When both agents were added jointly, the cytosol first alkalized and then acidified. (GlcNAc)(8) and NodRm-IV(C16:2,S) transiently increased cytosolic Ca(2+) activity, whereby the response to (GlcNAc)(8) exceeded the one to NodRm-IV(C16:2,S) by at least a factor of two.     

Nod factors of Rhizobium are a key to the legume door

Symbiotic interactions between rhizobia and legumes are largely controlled by reciprocal signal exchange. Legume roots excrete flavonoids which induce rhizobial nodulation genes to synthesize and excrete lopo-oligosaccharide Nod factors. In turn, Nod factors provoke deformation of the root hairs and nodule primordium formation. Normally, rhizobia enter roots through infection threads in markedly curled root hairs. If Nod factors are responsible for symbiosis-specific root hair deformation, they could also be the signal for entry of rhizobia into legume roots. We tested this hypothesis by adding, at inoculation, NodNGR-factors to signal-production-deficient mutants of the broad-host-range Rhizobium sp. NGR234 and Bradyrhizobium japorticum strain USDA110. Between 10 ⁻⁷ M and 10⁻⁶ M NodNGR factors permitted these NodABC mutants to penetrate, nodulate and fix nitrogen on Vigna unguiculata and Glycine max, respectively. NodNGR factors also allowed Rhizobium fredii strain USDA257 to enter and fix nitrogen on Calopogonium caeruleum, a non-host. Detailed cytological investigations of V. unguiculata showed that the NodABC mutant UGR AnodABC, in the presence of NodNGR factors, entered roots in the same way as the wild-type bacterium. Since infection threads were also present in the resulting nodules, we conclude that Nod factors are the signals that permit rhizobia to penetrate legume roots via infection threads.     

Resistance of pea roots to endomycorrhizal fungus or Rhizobium correlates with enhanced levels of endogenous salicylic acid

The analysis of SA accumulation in roots of plant symbiotic mutants revealed two independent phenomena associated with the inability of either the plant or the microsymbiont to form a compatible symbiosis. SA accumulation in roots of the wild type and symbiosis-resistant P2 (Nod^-, MYC^-) Pisum sativum genotypes was induced upon interaction with Glomus mosseae. The amplitude of this accumulation was higher in P2 plants and increased with time, an effect that was not observed in roots of the wild-type, an effect that was not observed in roots of the wild-type P. sativum genotype. Likewise, Rhizobium leguminosarum wild type or a mutant blocked in Nod factor biosynthesis induced SA accumulation in P2, whereas SA accumulation in roots of the wild-type plant was dependent on the inability of the bacterium to produce Nod factors. These results suggest that the sym30 gene, which is mutated in P2 plants, could be implicated in a common pathway that leads to the suppression of an SA-dependent defence mechanism in legume plants against Rhizobium and endomycorrhizal fungi, thus allowing establishment of symbiosis.     

Activation of the cell cycle machinery and the isoflavonoid biosynthesis pathway by active Rhizobium meliloti Nod signal molecules in Medicago microcallus suspensions.

We have shown that treatment of Medicago microcallus suspensions with the cognate Rhizobium meliloti Nod signal molecule NodRm-IV(C16:2,S) can modify gene expression both qualitatively and quantitatively. At concentrations of 10(-6) - 10(-9) M, this host specific plant morphogen but not the inactive non-sulfated molecule stimulated cell cycle progression as indicated by the significantly enhanced thymidine incorporation, elevated number of S phase cells, increase in kinase activity of the p34cdc2-related complexes and enhancement of the level of expression of several cell cycle marker genes, the histone H3-1, the cdc2Ms and the cyclin cycMs2. The presented data suggest that at least part of the physiological role of the Nod factor may be linked to molecular events involved in the control of the plant cell division cycle. In situ hybridization experiments with antisense H3-1 RNA probe indicated that only certain cells of the calli were able to respond to the Nod factor. High (10(-6) M) but not low (10(-9) M) concentrations of the active Nod factors induced the expression of the isoflavone reductase gene (IFR), a marker gene of the isoflavonoid biosynthesis pathway in most callus cells. Our results indicate that Medicago cell responses to the Nod signal molecules can be investigated in suspension cultures.     

Rhizobial lipochitooligosaccharide nodulation factors activate expression of the legume early nodulin gene ENOD12 in rice

Lipochitooligosaccharide nodulation factors (Nod factors) produced by rhizobia are a major host range determinant. These factors play a pivotal role in the molecular signal exchange, infection and induction of symbiotic developmental responses in legumes leading to the formation of a nodule in which rhizobia carry out N₂ fixation. Determining whether rice ( Oryza sativa ) can respond to Nod factors could lead to strategies that would make rice amenable to develop a nitrogen-fixing endosymbiotic association with rhizobia. We introduced into rice the promoter of the infection-related gene MtENOD12 (from Medicago truncatula ) fused to the β-glucuronidase (GUS) reporter gene to serve as a molecular marker to aid in the detection of Nod factor signal perception by rice cells. Treatment of the transgenic rice roots with Nod factors (10^–6–10^–9 m ) under nitrogen-limiting conditions induced MtENOD12 -GUS expression in cortical parenchyma, endodermis and pericycle. In contrast, chitooligosaccharide backbone alone failed to elicit such a response in the root tissues. These findings demonstrate that rice roots perceive Nod factors and that these lipochitooligosaccharides, but not simple chitin oligomers, act as signal molecules in activating MtENOD12 in cortical parenchyma as in legumes. Exogenous application of N -naphthaleneacetic acid mimicked the Nod factor-elicited tissue-specific expression of MtENOD12 in roots while cytokinins inhibited it, thus evidencing that Nod factors, auxin and cytokinins probably act on similar signaling elements responsible for the regulation of MtENOD12 activation in rice. Taken together, these results suggest that at least a portion of the signal transduction machinery important for legume nodulation is likely to exist in rice.      

Nod factor structures,responses, and perception during initiation of nodule development

The onset of nodule development, the result of rhizobia-legume symbioses, is determined by the exchange of chemical compounds between microsymbiont and leguminous host plant. Lipo-chitooligosaccharidic nodulation (Nod) factors, secreted by rhizobia, belong to these signal molecules. Nod factors consist of an acylated chitin oligomeric backbone with various substitutions at the (non)reducing-terminal and/or nonterminal residues. They induce the formation and deformation of root hairs, intra- and extracellular alkalinization, membrane potential depolarization, changes in ion fluxes, early nodulin gene expression, and formation of nodule primordia. Nod factors play a key role during nodule initiation and act at nano- to picomolar concentrations. A correct chemical structure is required for induction of a particular plant response, suggesting that Nod factor-receptor interaction(s) precede(s) a Nod factor-induced signal transduction cascade. Current data on Nod factor structures and Nod factor-induced responses are highlighted as well as recent advances in the characterization of proteins, possibly involved in recognition of Nod factors by the host plant.     

Activation of flavonoid biosynthesis in roots of Vicia sativa subsp. nigra plants by inoculation with Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae

Infective (nodulating) Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae (R.l. viciae) bacteria release Nod factors which stimulate the release of nodulation gene-inducing flavanones and chalcones from roots of the host plant Vicia sativa subsp. nigra (K. Recourt et al., Plant Mol Biol 16: 841–852; H.P. Spaink et al., Nature 354: 125–130). The hypothesis that this release results from increased synthesis of flavonoids was tested by studying the effect of inoculation of V. sativa with infective and uninfective R.l. viciae bacteria on (i) activity of L-phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, (ii) level of chalcone synthase mRNA, and (iii) activity of (eriodictyol) methyltransferase in roots. Consistent with the hypothesis, each of these parameters was found to increase 1.5 to 2-fold upon inoculation with infective R.l. viciae bacteria relative to the situation for uninoculated roots and for roots inoculated with uninfective rhizobia.