Shoot‐derived <scp>miR2111</scp> controls legume root and nodule development

Legumes control their nodule numbers through the autoregulation of nodulation (AON). Rhizobia infection stimulates production root-derived CLE peptide hormones that are translocated to shoot where they regulate a new signal. We used soybean demonstrate this shoot-derived signal is miR2111, which transported via phloem root it targets transcripts Too Much Love (TML), negative regulator nodulation. Shoot perception rhizobia-induced peptides suppresses miR2111 expression, resulting in TML accumulation roots and subsequent inhibition organogenesis. Feeding synthetic mature petiole increased per plant. Likewise, elevating availability by over-expression promoted nodulation, while target mimicry induced opposite effect on development wild-type plants alleviated supernodulating stunted growth phenotypes AON-defective mutants. Additionally, non-nodulating plants, ectopic expression significantly enhanced lateral emergence with decrease length average diameter. In contrast, hairy constitutively expressing mimic construct exhibited reduced density. Overall, these findings both critical shoot-to-root factor positively regulates also acts shape system architecture.