The demonstration of a single origin for nodule evolution, with nodule engineering in a non-nodulating species
Abstract
The nitrogen-fixing root-nodule symbiosis provides a sustainable source of nitrogen for plants within the Nitrogen (N)-fixing clade (NFC). A debate has raged over whether nodulation evolved once, with many losses or multiple times following a predisposition event. Here we demonstrate that nodule-organogenesis is fully conserved between an actinorhizal nodulator Datisca glomerata and the legume Medicago truncatula , showing entirely conserved programmes for Nodule INception (NIN)- controlled development leading to nodule emergence. Convergent losses of N-fixation within the NFC is associated with loss of NIN and we show the engineering of nodule-like development into strawberry, a non-nodulating member of the NFC, through the repair of NIN- functionality. Similar NIN- engineering resulted in altered-root developmental responses in barley. Our work is consistent with the single-gain hypothesis, where repair of NIN can recapitulate nodules in species within the NFC, demonstrating that understanding the ancestral state of nodulation facilitates its engineering.
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BibTeX
@misc{kundu2026demonstration,
title = {{The demonstration of a single origin for nodule evolution, with nodule engineering in a non-nodulating species}},
author = {Anindya Kundu and R. Jordan Price and Esther Rosales Sanchez and Ivan Reynas-Llorens and Min-Yao Jhu and Jin-Peng Gao and Thiago Alexandre Moraes and Federico Marangelli and Cyril Libourel and Jean Keller and Jack Brooks and Wendy Harwood and Emma Wallington and Pierre-Marc Delaux and Richard Harrison and Giles E.D. Oldroyd},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.64898/2026.05.31.728964},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05782768v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - The demonstration of a single origin for nodule evolution, with nodule engineering in a non-nodulating species
AU - Anindya Kundu
AU - R. Jordan Price
AU - Esther Rosales Sanchez
AU - Ivan Reynas-Llorens
AU - Min-Yao Jhu
AU - Jin-Peng Gao
AU - Thiago Alexandre Moraes
AU - Federico Marangelli
AU - Cyril Libourel
AU - Jean Keller
AU - Jack Brooks
AU - Wendy Harwood
AU - Emma Wallington
AU - Pierre-Marc Delaux
AU - Richard Harrison
AU - Giles E.D. Oldroyd
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/03
PB - HAL
DO - 10.64898/2026.05.31.728964
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05782768v1
AB - The nitrogen-fixing root-nodule symbiosis provides a sustainable source of nitrogen for plants within the Nitrogen (N)-fixing clade (NFC). A debate has raged over whether nodulation evolved once, with many losses or multiple times following a predisposition event. Here we demonstrate that nodule-organogenesis is fully conserved between an actinorhizal nodulator Datisca glomerata and the legume Medicago truncatula , showing entirely conserved programmes for Nodule INception (NIN)- controlled development leading to nodule emergence. Convergent losses of N-fixation within the NFC is associated with loss of NIN and we show the engineering of nodule-like development into strawberry, a non-nodulating member of the NFC, through the repair of NIN- functionality. Similar NIN- engineering resulted in altered-root developmental responses in barley. Our work is consistent with the single-gain hypothesis, where repair of NIN can recapitulate nodules in species within the NFC, demonstrating that understanding the ancestral state of nodulation facilitates its engineering.
ER -