ArticleNature microbiology2022
A haem-sequestering plant peptide promotes iron uptake in symbiotic bacteria.
Article in Nature microbiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 66 citations in OpenAlex.
- Review
- Symbiotic peptides modulate rhizobial physiology without terminal differentiation.Science advances · 2026Article
- Developmental fates and N2-fixing efficiency of terminally-differentiated versus undifferentiated bacteroids from legume nodules.Plant physiology · 2026Article
- BacA(SbmA) importer of legume symbiotic NCR peptides: Protein architecture, function, and evolutionary implications.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Article
- Evolution of rhizobial siderophore utilization via accessory xeno-siderophore receptors and flexible intake machinery for self-produced siderophores.The ISME journal · 2026Article
- Soil N and P nutrient metabolism affected by fungal community in larch plantation.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Iron need attention: a review on the role of iron in plants.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Review
- Exploiting peptide chirality and transport to dissect the complex mechanism of action of host peptides on bacteria.PLoS genetics · 2025Article
- CPOP1 is a key enzyme required for nodule microenvironment control and successful symbiotic nitrogen fixation in Lotus japonicus.Journal of integrative plant biology · 2025Article
- Uclacyanin MtUC1 Is Involved in the Regulation of Nodule Senescence in Medicago truncatula.Molecular plant pathology · 2025Article
- Exploiting Peptide Chirality and Transport to Dissect the Complex Mechanism of Action of Host Peptides on Bacteria.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Mobile gene clusters and coexpressed plant-rhizobium pathways drive partner quality variation in symbiosis.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- A minimized symbiotic gene set from the 1.68 Mb pSymB chromid of Sinorhizobium meliloti reveals auxiliary symbiotic loci.BMC biology · 2025Article
- Beyond Motility: A Multiparametric Fitness Assay Framework to Evaluate Anthelmintics inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Taxonomic distribution of SbmA/BacA and BacA-like antimicrobial peptide transporters suggests independent recruitment and convergent evolution in host-microbe interactions.Microbial genomics · 2025Article
- Article
- Decoding small peptides: Regulators of plant growth and stress resilience.Journal of integrative plant biology · 2025Review
- The Small Key to the Treasure Chest: Endogenous Plant Peptides Involved in Symbiotic Interactions.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Antagonism within mutualism: host control of symbionts through nodule-specific antimicrobial peptides.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Symbiotic partnerships with rhizobial bacteria enable legumes to grow without nitrogen fertilizer because rhizobia convert atmospheric nitrogen gas into ammonia via nitrogenase. After Sinorhizobium meliloti penetrate the root nodules that they have elicited in Medicago truncatula, the plant produces a family of about 700 nodule cysteine-rich (NCR) peptides that guide the differentiation of endocytosed bacteria into nitrogen-fixing bacteroids. The sequences of the NCR peptides are related to the defensin class of antimicrobial peptides, but have been adapted to play symbiotic roles. Using a variety of spectroscopic, biophysical and biochemical techniques, we show here that the most extensively characterized NCR peptide, 24 amino acid NCR247, binds haem with nanomolar affinity. Bound haem molecules and their iron are initially made biologically inaccessible through the formation of hexamers (6 haem/6 NCR247) and then higher-order complexes. We present evidence that NCR247 is crucial for effective nitrogen-fixing symbiosis. We propose that by sequestering haem and its bound iron, NCR247 creates a physiological state of haem deprivation. This in turn induces an iron-starvation response in rhizobia that results in iron import, which itself is required for nitrogenase activity. Using the same methods as for L-NCR247, we show that the D-enantiomer of NCR247 can bind and sequester haem in an equivalent manner. The special abilities of NCR247 and its D-enantiomer to sequester haem suggest a broad range of potential applications related to human health.
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