The success of plants on land has been enabled by mutualistic intracellular associations with microbes for 450 million years ([Delaux and Schornack 2021][1]). Because of their intracellular nature, th...

Abstract. The paradox of evolutionary stasis and dynamism—how morphologically static lineages persist through deep geological periods despite environmental

The literature on domestication commonly calls the association between human domesticators and their plant and animal domesticates mutualistic, yet this designation is rarely examined critically. Here...

Plants deploy a diverse array of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), which perceive microbe-associated molecular patterns to activate immune responses. Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase subgr...

Many plants interact symbiotically with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi to enhance inorganic phosphorus uptake, and legumes also develop a nodule symbiosis with rhizobia for nitrogen acquisition. The establishment and functioning of both symbioses rely on a common plant signaling pathway activated by structurally related Myc and Nod factors. Recently, a SPARK receptor-like kinase (RLK)/receptor-like cytoplasmic kinase (RLCK) complex was shown to be essential for arbuscular mycorrhiza formation in both monocot and dicot plants. Here, we show that in Aeschynomene legumes, the RLCK component of this receptor complex has undergone a gene duplication event and mediates a unique nodule symbiosis that is independent of rhizobial Nod factors. In Aeschynomene evenia, AeRLCK2 is crucial for nodule initiation but not for arbuscular mycorrhiza symbiosis. Additionally, AeRLCK2 physically interacts with and is phosphorylated by the cysteine-rich RLK, AeCRK, which is also required for nodulation. This finding uncovers an important molecular mechanism that controls the establishment of nodulation and is associated with Nod-independent symbiosis.

Salicylic acid (SA) is a key plant hormone required for establishing resistance to many pathogens. SA biosynthesis involves two main metabolic pathways with multiple steps: the isochorismate and the p...

In this Review, Roussin-Léveillée, Mackey and colleagues examine microorganism interaction with and manipulation of the plant apoplast. Effector-driven extracellular niche establishment is conceptuali...

Eukaryotes detect biomolecules through surface-localized receptors, key signaling components. A subset of receptors survey for pathogens, induce immunity, and restrict pathogen growth. Comparative gen...