Formin-mediated bridging of cell wall, plasma membrane, and cytoskeleton in symbiotic infections of Medicago truncatula

Summary Legumes have maintained the ability to associate with rhizobia to sustain the nitrogen-fixing root nodule symbiosis (RNS). In Medicago truncatula, the Nod factor (NF)-dependent intracellular root colonization by Sinorhizobium meliloti initiates from young, growing root hairs. They form rhizobial traps by physically curling around the symbiont.1,2 Although alterations in root hair morphology like branching and swelling have been observed in other plants in response to drug treatments3 or genetic perturbations,4, 5, 6 full root hair curling represents a rather specific invention in legumes. The entrapment of the symbiont completes with its full enclosure in a structure called the “infection chamber” (IC),1,2,7,8 from which a tube-like membrane channel, the “infection thread” (IT), initiates.1,2,9 All steps of rhizobium-induced root hair alterations are aided by a tip-localized cytosolic calcium gradient,10,11 global actin re-arrangements, and dense subapical fine actin bundles that are required for the delivery of Golgi-derived vesicles to the root hair tip.7,12, 13, 14 Altered actin dynamics during early responses to NFs or rhizobia have mostly been shown in mutants that are affected in the actin-related SCAR/WAVE complex.15, 16, 17, 18 Here, we identified a polarly localized SYMBIOTIC FORMIN 1 (SYFO1) to be required for NF-dependent alterations in membrane organization and symbiotic root hair responses. We demonstrate that SYFO1 mediates a continuum between the plasma membrane and the cell wall that is required for the onset of rhizobial infections.
Graphical abstract
Highlights • The SYMBIOTIC FORMIN 1 (SYFO1) specifically regulates symbiotic root hair curling • SYFO1 directly binds actin and polarizes in responding root hairs • SYFO1 induces membrane protrusions in cell-wall-devoid protoplasts • Cell wall association of SYFO1 is indispensable for its function in root hairs
Here, Liang et al. report that the formin SYFO1 specifically regulates polar actin alignments during symbiotic root hair responses in Medicago truncatula. Although SYFO1 is able to induce membrane protrusions in protoplasts, its endogenous function requires an association with the cell wall.