Fungal symbiosis in rice requires an ortholog of a legume common symbiosis gene encoding a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase

Caiyan Chen, Muqiang Gao, Jinyuan Liu, Hongyan Zhu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

95 Scopus citations

Abstract

In natural ecosystems, many plants are able to establish mutually beneficial symbioses with microorganisms. Of critical importance to sustainable agriculture are the symbioses formed between more than 80% of terrestrial plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and between legumes and nitrogen-fixing rhizobial bacteria. Interestingly, the two symbioses share overlapping signaling pathways in legumes, suggesting that the evolutionarily recent root nodule symbiosis may have acquired functions from the ancient AM symbiosis. The Medicago truncatula DMI3 (DOESN'T MAKE INFECTIONS3) gene (MtDMI3) and its orthologs in legumes are required for both bacterial and fungal symbioses. MtDMI3 encodes a Ca2+/ calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CCaMK) essential for the transduction of the Ca2+ signal induced by the perception of Nod factors. Putative orthologs of MtDMI3 are also present in non-legumes, but their function in AM symbiosis has not been demonstrated in any non-legume species. Here, we combine reverse genetic approaches and a cross-species complementation test to characterize the function of the rice (Oryza sativa) ortholog of MtDMI3, namely, OsDMI3, in AM symbiosis. We demonstrate that OsDMI3 is not only required for AM symbiosis in rice but also is able to complement a M. truncatula dmi3 mutant, indicating an equivalent role of MtDMI3 orthologs in non-legumes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1619-1628
Number of pages10
JournalPlant Physiology
Volume145
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2007

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Physiology
  • Genetics
  • Plant Science

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