Symbiosis Receptor-like Kinase (SYMRK) is indispensable for the development of phosphate-acquiring arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) as well as nitrogen-fixing root nodule symbiosis, but the mechanisms that discriminate between the two distinct symbiotic developmental fates have been enigmatic. In this study, we show that upon ectopic expression, the receptor-like kinase genes Nod Factor Receptor 1 (N...

Salinity is one of the severe problems in worldwide agricultural production. Soil salinity limits the productions of both forage and grain legumes. Adverse effects of salinity are mediated through detrimental effects on the rhizobium legume interactions that lead to the establishment of the nitrogen fixing symbiosis. Salt stress inhibits the initial steps of the rhizobia legume symbiosis. For i...

With one notable exception, namely the genus Parasponia in the elm family, the ability to form nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with gram-negative soil bacteria known as rhizobia is restricted to the legume family, Leguminosae. It has been well established that initiation of successful nodular symbiosis requires strict compatibility between rhizobial-secreted Nod factors and a perception machinery of ...

The theoretical groundwork of the 1930s and 1940s and the technical advance of computers in the following decades provided the basis for dramatic increases in human efficiency. While computers continue to evolve, and we can still expect increasing benefits from their use, the interface between humans and computers has begun to present a serious impediment to full realization of the potential pa...

Root-nodule symbiosis between leguminous plants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia) involves molecular communication between the two partners. Key components for the establishment of symbiosis are rhizobium-derived lipochitooligosaccharides (Nod factors; NFs) and their leguminous receptors (NFRs) that initiate nodule development and bacterial entry. Here we demonstrate that the soybean micr...

Root nodule-forming rhizobia exhibit a bipartite lifestyle, replicating in soil and also within plant cells where they fix nitrogen for legume hosts. Host control models posit that legume hosts act as a predominant selective force on rhizobia, but few studies have examined rhizobial fitness in natural populations. Here, we genotyped and phenotyped Bradyrhizobium isolates across more than 800 km...