Nanodomain-localized formin gates symbiotic microbial entry in legume and solanaceous plants
Abstract
Colonization of plant roots by symbionts requires substantial morphodynamic reorganization. Examples are actin-scaffolded microcompartments called infection pockets formed during root nodule symbiosis (RNS) by legumes. We demonstrate that the actin-binding formin SYFO2 is indispensable for rhizobial infection in Medicago truncatula , where it drives actin polymerization in phase-separated and symbiosis-specific nanodomains. SYFO2 also regulates symbiotically active arbuscules formed during mycorrhizal symbiosis in plants outside the nodulating clade, indicating that it was additionally recruited to promote rhizobial infections in legumes. As part of our aim to enable nitrogen fixation in nonlegumes, we activated endogenous SYFO2 by stably introducing the RNS master regulator NODULE INCEPTION (NIN) into the natural nonhost tomato. This demonstrates the possibility of recruiting arbuscular mycorrhizae–related genes into an engineered nodulation-specific pathway.
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BibTeX
@article{qiao2026nanodomainlocalized,
title = {{Nanodomain-localized formin gates symbiotic microbial entry in legume and solanaceous plants}},
author = {Lijin Qiao and Heng Sun and Jiping Tang and Casandra Hernández-Reyes and Beatrice Lace and Julian Knerr and Eija Schulze and Tak Lee and Jean Keller and Cyril Libourel and Jilin Yao and Feiyang Zhao and Ying Ni and Yutian Jia and Xia Xu and Guanghui Yang and Lin Zhang and Yanli Zhang and Robert Grosse and Changfu Tian and Giles E D Oldroyd and Pierre-Marc Delaux and Thomas Ott and Pengbo Liang},
journal = {Science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1126/science.adx8542},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05782726v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Nanodomain-localized formin gates symbiotic microbial entry in legume and solanaceous plants
AU - Lijin Qiao
AU - Heng Sun
AU - Jiping Tang
AU - Casandra Hernández-Reyes
AU - Beatrice Lace
AU - Julian Knerr
AU - Eija Schulze
AU - Tak Lee
AU - Jean Keller
AU - Cyril Libourel
AU - Jilin Yao
AU - Feiyang Zhao
AU - Ying Ni
AU - Yutian Jia
AU - Xia Xu
AU - Guanghui Yang
AU - Lin Zhang
AU - Yanli Zhang
AU - Robert Grosse
AU - Changfu Tian
AU - Giles E D Oldroyd
AU - Pierre-Marc Delaux
AU - Thomas Ott
AU - Pengbo Liang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Science
DO - 10.1126/science.adx8542
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05782726v1
AB - Colonization of plant roots by symbionts requires substantial morphodynamic reorganization. Examples are actin-scaffolded microcompartments called infection pockets formed during root nodule symbiosis (RNS) by legumes. We demonstrate that the actin-binding formin SYFO2 is indispensable for rhizobial infection in Medicago truncatula , where it drives actin polymerization in phase-separated and symbiosis-specific nanodomains. SYFO2 also regulates symbiotically active arbuscules formed during mycorrhizal symbiosis in plants outside the nodulating clade, indicating that it was additionally recruited to promote rhizobial infections in legumes. As part of our aim to enable nitrogen fixation in nonlegumes, we activated endogenous SYFO2 by stably introducing the RNS master regulator NODULE INCEPTION (NIN) into the natural nonhost tomato. This demonstrates the possibility of recruiting arbuscular mycorrhizae–related genes into an engineered nodulation-specific pathway.
SN - 0036-8075
SN - 1095-9203
ER -