Nodulation Signaling in Legumes Requires NSP2, a Member of the GRAS Family of Transcriptional Regulators

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 308; no. 5729; pp. 1786 - 1789
• Main Authors: Kaló, Péter, Gleason, Cynthia, Edwards, Anne, Marsh, John, Mitra, Raka M., Hirsch, Sibylle, Jakab, Júlia, Sims, Sarah, Long, Sharon R., Rogers, Jane, Kiss, György B., Downie, J. Allan, Giles E. D. Oldroyd
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 17-06-2005; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Amino Acid Motifs; Amino Acid Sequence; Bacterial proteins; Beans; Biological and medical sciences; Calcium; Calcium - metabolism; Calcium Signaling; Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases - genetics; Calcium-Calmodulin-Dependent Protein Kinases - metabolism; Cell Nucleus - metabolism; Cloning, Molecular; Feedback (Response); Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; Genes; Genes, Plant; Iron, Nodular; Legumes; Lipopolysaccharides - metabolism; Medicago - genetics; Medicago - metabolism; Medicago - microbiology; Medicago truncatula; Mimosaceae; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutation; Nodular iron; Nodulation; Nuclear membrane; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Oligonucleotide probes; Parasitism and symbiosis; Pisum sativum - genetics; Pisum sativum - metabolism; Plant physiology and development; Plant Proteins - chemistry; Plant Proteins - genetics; Plant Proteins - metabolism; Plant roots; Plants; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Proteins; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - metabolism; Signal Transduction; Sinorhizobium meliloti - physiology; Symbiosis; Transcription Factors - chemistry; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism; Transcription, Genetic; Transcripts (Written Records); Symbiosis; Medicago truncatula; Calcium; Oligosaccharide; Nodulation; Plant nodule; Gene expression; Genetic determinism; Protein; Signal transduction; Regulation(control); Gene; Leguminosae; Dicotyledones; Angiospermae; Spermatophyta; Mechanism of action
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1110951

Rhizobial bacteria enter a symbiotic interaction with legumes, activating diverse responses in roots through the lipochito oligosaccharide signaling molecule Nod factor. Here, we show that NSP2 from Medicago truncatula encodes a GRAS protein essential for Nod-factor signaling. NSP2 functions downstream of Nod-factor-induced calcium spiking and a calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase. We show that NSP2-GFP expressed from a constitutive promoter is localized to the endoplasmic reticulum/nuclear envelope and relocalizes to the nucleus after Nod-factor elicitation. This work provides evidence that a GRAS protein transduces calcium signals in plants and provides a possible regulator of Nod-factor-inducible gene expression.