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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Plant Sci.
Sec. Plant Symbiotic Interactions
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1435632
This article is part of the Research Topic Cross-Kingdom Communications Among Plants, Fungi and Bacteria: From Molecules to Ecological Factors View all 5 articles

Differential symbiotic compatibilities between rhizobium strains and cultivated and wild soybeans revealed by anatomical and transcriptome analyses

Provisionally accepted
Sobhan B. Zadegan Sobhan B. Zadegan 1Wonseok Kim Wonseok Kim 2Hafiz Abbas Hafiz Abbas 1Sunhyung Kim Sunhyung Kim 2Hari B. Krishnan Hari B. Krishnan 2*Tarek Hewezi Tarek Hewezi 1*
  • 1 The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, United States
  • 2 Division of Plant Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Various species of rhizobium establish compatible symbiotic relationships with soybean (Glycine max) leading to the formation of nitrogen-fixing nodules in roots. The formation of functional nodules is mediated through complex developmental and transcriptional reprogramming that involves the activity of thousands of plant genes. However, host transcriptome that differentiate between functional or non-functional nodules remain largely unexplored. In this study, we investigated differential compatibilities between rhizobium strains (Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens USDA110 Bradyrhizobium sp. strain LVM105) and cultivated and wild soybeans. The nodulation assays revealed that both USDA110 and LVM105 strains effectively nodulate G. soja but only USDA110 can form symbiotic relationships with Williams 82. LVM105 formed pseudonodules on Williams 82 that consist of a central nodule-like mass that are devoid of any rhizobia. RNAseq data revealed that USDA110 and LVM105 induce distinct transcriptome programing in functional mature nodules formed on G. soja roots, where genes involved in nucleosome assembly, DNA replication, regulation of cell cycle, and defense responses play key roles. Transcriptome comparison also suggested that activation of genes associated with cell wall biogenesis and organization and defense responses together with downregulation of genes involved in the biosynthesis of isoprenoids and antioxidant stress are associated with the formation of nonfunctional nodules on Williams 82 roots. Moreover, our analysis implies that increased activity of genes involved oxygen binding, amino acid transport, and nitrate transport differentiates between fully-developed nodules in cultivated versus wild soybeans.

    Keywords: Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens, Glycine max, Glycine soja, nodulation, RNA-Seq

    Received: 20 May 2024; Accepted: 09 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zadegan, Kim, Abbas, Kim, Krishnan and Hewezi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Hari B. Krishnan, Division of Plant Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, United States
    Tarek Hewezi, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, United States

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