Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Nanodomain-localized formin gates symbiotic microbial entry in legume and solanaceous plants

Lijin Qiao, Heng Sun, Jiping Tang, Casandra Hernández-Reyes, Beatrice Lace, Julian Knerr, Eija Schulze, Tak Lee, J. Keller, Cyril Libourel, Jilin Yao, Feiyang Zhao, Ying Ni, Yutian Jia, Xia Xu, Guanghui Yang, L. Zhang, Yanli Zhang, Robert Grosse, Changfu Tian, Giles E. D. Oldroyd, Pierre-Marc Delaux, Thomas Ott, Pengbo Liang

Science · 2026

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Summary

Colonization of plant roots by symbionts requires substantial morphodynamic reorganization. Examples are actin-scaffolded microcompartments called infection pockets formed during root nodule symbiosis (RNS) by legumes. We demonstrate that the actin-binding formin SYFO2 is indispensable for rhizobial infection in <i>Medicago truncatula</i>, where it drives actin polymerization in phase-separated and symbiosis-specific nanodomains. SYFO2 also regulates symbiotically active arbuscules formed during mycorrhizal symbiosis in plants outside the nodulating clade, indicating that it was additionally recruited to promote rhizobial infections in legumes. As part of our aim to enable nitrogen fixation in nonlegumes, we activated endogenous <i>SYFO2</i> by stably introducing the RNS master regulator N

Source type
Peer-reviewed study
DOI
10.1126/science.adx8542
Catalogue ID
SNmoi53f5g-42a7xs
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