An N-acetylglucosamine transporter required for arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses in rice and maize

• Published in: Nature plants Vol. 3; no. 6; p. 17073
• Main Authors: Nadal, Marina, Sawers, Ruairidh, Naseem, Shamoon, Bassin, Barbara, Kulicke, Corinna, Sharman, Abigail, An, Gynheung, An, Kyungsook, Ahern, Kevin R., Romag, Amanda, Brutnell, Thomas P., Gutjahr, Caroline, Geldner, Niko, Roux, Christophe, Martinoia, Enrico, Konopka, James B., Paszkowski, Uta
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 26.05.2017; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 13/109; 13/89; 38/90; 38/91; 42/35; 42/44; 42/70; 45/22; 45/29; 45/71; 45/77; 45/88; 49/39; 631/208/2491/2046; 631/449/2675; 631/449/2676/2061; 96/63; Arbuscular mycorrhizas; Biology; Cloning; Cloning, Molecular; Corn; Exudates; Exudation; Fungi; Genes; Genes, Plant; Genetics; Genomes; Genotype & phenotype; Homology; Life Sciences; Mutation; Mycorrhizae - metabolism; N-Acetylglucosamine; Oryza - genetics; Oryza - metabolism; Phosphoenolpyruvate Sugar Phosphotransferase System - genetics; Phosphoenolpyruvate Sugar Phosphotransferase System - metabolism; Plant Roots - metabolism; Plant Roots - microbiology; Plant Sciences; Rhizosphere; Rice; Signal Transduction; Signaling; Symbiosis; Synteny; Transcriptomes; Virulence; Zea mays - genetics; Zea mays - metabolism; Plant signalling; Transgenic plants; Arbuscular mycorrhiza
• ISSN: 2055-0278; 2055-026X; 2055-0278
• DOI: 10.1038/nplants.2017.73

Most terrestrial plants, including crops, engage in beneficial interactions with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Vital to the association is mutual recognition involving the release of diffusible signals into the rhizosphere. Previously, we identified the maize no perception 1 ( nope1 ) mutant to be defective in early signalling. Here, we report cloning of ZmNope1 on the basis of synteny with rice. NOPE1 encodes a functional homologue of the Candida albicans N -acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) transporter NGT1 , and represents the first plasma membrane GlcNAc transporter identified from plants. In C. albicans, exposure to GlcNAc activates cell signalling and virulence. Similarly, in Rhizophagus irregularis treatment with rice wild-type but not nope1 root exudates induced transcriptome changes associated with signalling function, suggesting a requirement of NOPE1 function for presymbiotic fungal reprogramming. The NOPE1 gene is required for arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in maize. The causal gene is now identified using rice. It is the first identified GlcNAc transporter in plants, needed for presymbiotic fungal reprogramming.