ArticleNature2009
Host plant genome overcomes the lack of a bacterial gene for symbiotic nitrogen fixation.
Article in Nature, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers.
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52 citing papers in PubMed, 114 citations in OpenAlex.
- Integrated multi-omics decipher the complex nodule microbiota and distinct Frankiaceae symbiotic traits in wild actinorhizal plants.The New phytologist · 2026Article
- Circular RNAs in Lotus japonicus Responses to Nutrient Supply and Mesorhizobium Symbiosis.Plant, cell & environment · 2026Article
- Role of theHorticulture research · 2026Article
- Review
- Single-cell Raman spectroscopic analysis of bacteroids in soybean nodules to observe the relationship between biomolecular constituents and symbiotic nitrogen fixation activity.Plant biotechnology (Tokyo, Japan) · 2025Article
- Division of labor in the nodule: Plant GluTRs fuel heme biosynthesis for symbiosis.The Plant cell · 2025Article
- Article
- Plant Growth of the Wild Forage Legume Genista monspessulana is Improved by Bradyrhizobium sp. sv. Genistearum in the Acidic Soils of Northern Morocco.Current microbiology · 2025Article
- Nutrient-dependent regulation of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes.Horticulture research · 2025Article
- Correlating phylogenetic and functional diversity of the nod-free but nodulating Bradyrhizobium phylogroup.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- A mitochondrial metalloprotease FtsH4 is required for symbiotic nitrogen fixation in Lotus japonicus nodules.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Mapping the molecular landscape of Lotus japonicus nodule organogenesis through spatiotemporal transcriptomics.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Metal nutrition and transport in the process of symbiotic nitrogen fixation.Plant communications · 2024Review
- Symbiosis for rhizobia is not an easy ride.Nature microbiology · 2024Article
- Dynamic Transformation of Nano-MoSEnvironmental science & technology · 2024Article
- Comparative genome analysis ofMicrobial genomics · 2023Article
- The innovation of the symbiosome has enhanced the evolutionary stability of nitrogen fixation in legumes.The New phytologist · 2022Article
- Evolutionary origin and ecological implication of a unique nif island in free-living Bradyrhizobium lineages.The ISME journal · 2021Article
- How Rhizobia Adapt to the Nodule Environment.Journal of bacteriology · 2021Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
19 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Homocitrate is a component of the iron-molybdenum cofactor in nitrogenase, where nitrogen fixation occurs. NifV, which encodes homocitrate synthase (HCS), has been identified from various diazotrophs but is not present in most rhizobial species that perform efficient nitrogen fixation only in symbiotic association with legumes. Here we show that the FEN1 gene of a model legume, Lotus japonicus, overcomes the lack of NifV in rhizobia for symbiotic nitrogen fixation. A Fix(-) (non-fixing) plant mutant, fen1, forms morphologically normal but ineffective nodules. The causal gene, FEN1, was shown to encode HCS by its ability to complement a HCS-defective mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Homocitrate was present abundantly in wild-type nodules but was absent from ineffective fen1 nodules. Inoculation with Mesorhizobium loti carrying FEN1 or Azotobacter vinelandii NifV rescued the defect in nitrogen-fixing activity of the fen1 nodules. Exogenous supply of homocitrate also recovered the nitrogen-fixing activity of the fen1 nodules through de novo nitrogenase synthesis in the rhizobial bacteroids. These results indicate that homocitrate derived from the host plant cells is essential for the efficient and continuing synthesis of the nitrogenase system in endosymbionts, and thus provide a molecular basis for the complementary and indispensable partnership between legumes and rhizobia in symbiotic nitrogen fixation.
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