Glutathione Deficiency in Sinorhizobium meliloti Does Not Impair Bacteroid Differentiation But Induces Early Senescence in the Interaction With Medicago truncatula.

Under nitrogen-limiting conditions, legumes are able to interact symbiotically with bacteria of the Rhizobiaceae family. This interaction gives rise to a new organ, named a root nodule. Root nodules are characterized by an increased glutathione (GSH) and homoglutathione (hGSH) content compared to roots. These low molecular thiols are very important in the biological nitrogen fixation. In order to characterize the modification of nodule activity induced by the microsymbiont glutathione deficiency, physiological, biochemical, and gene expression modifications were analyzed in nodules after the inoculation of Medicago truncatula with the SmgshB mutant of Sinorhizobium meliloti which is deficient in GSH production. The decline in nitrogen fixation efficiency was correlated to the reduction in plant shoot biomass. Flow cytometry analysis showed that SmgshB bacteroids present a higher DNA content than free living bacteria. Live/dead microscopic analysis showed an early bacteroid degradation in SmgshB nodules compared to control nodules which is correlated to a lower bacteroid content at 20 dpi. Finally, the expression of two marker genes involved in nitrogen fixation metabolism, Leghemoglobin and Nodule Cysteine Rich Peptide 001, decreased significantly in mutant nodules at 20 dpi. In contrast, the expression of two marker genes involved in the nodule senescence, Cysteine Protease 6 and Purple Acid Protease, increased significantly in mutant nodules at 10 dpi strengthening the idea that an early senescence process occurs in SmgshB nodules. In conclusion, our results showed that bacterial GSH deficiency does not impair bacterial differentiation but induces an early nodule senescence.

Regulation of Differentiation of Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria by Microsymbiont Targeting of Plant Thioredoxin s1.

Legumes associate with rhizobia to form nitrogen (N2)-fixing nodules, which is important for plant fitness [1, 2]. Medicago truncatula controls the terminal differentiation of Sinorhizobium meliloti into N2-fixing bacteroids by producing defensin-like nodule-specific cysteine-rich peptides (NCRs) [3, 4]. The redox state of NCRs influences some biological activities in free-living bacteria, but the relevance of redox regulation of NCRs in planta is unknown [5, 6], although redox regulation plays a crucial role in symbiotic nitrogen fixation [7, 8]. Two thioredoxins (Trx), Trx s1 and s2, define a new type of Trx and are expressed principally in nodules [9]. Here, we show that there are four Trx s genes, two of which, Trx s1 and s3, are induced in the nodule infection zone where bacterial differentiation occurs. Trx s1 is targeted to the symbiosomes, the N2-fixing organelles. Trx s1 interacted with NCR247 and NCR335 and increased the cytotoxic effect of NCR335 in S. meliloti. We show that Trx s silencing impairs bacteroid growth and endoreduplication, two features of terminal bacteroid differentiation, and that the ectopic expression of Trx s1 in S. meliloti partially complements the silencing phenotype. Thus, our findings show that Trx s1 is targeted to the bacterial endosymbiont, where it controls NCR activity and bacteroid terminal differentiation. Similarly, Trxs are critical for the activation of defensins produced against infectious microbes in mammalian hosts. Therefore, our results suggest the Trx-mediated regulation of host peptides as a conserved mechanism among symbiotic and pathogenic interactions.

Glutathione and plant response to the biotic environment.

Glutathione (GSH) is a major antioxidant molecule in plants. It is involved in regulating plant development and responses to the abiotic and biotic environment. In recent years, numerous reports have clarified the molecular processes involving GSH in plant-microbe interactions. In this review, we summarize recent studies, highlighting the roles of GSH in interactions between plants and microbes, whether pathogenic or beneficial to plants.

Two Sinorhizobium meliloti glutaredoxins regulate iron metabolism and symbiotic bacteroid differentiation.

Legumes interact symbiotically with bacteria of the Rhizobiaceae to form nitrogen-fixing root nodules. We investigated the contribution of the three glutaredoxin (Grx)-encoding genes present in the Sinorhizobium meliloti genome to this symbiosis. SmGRX1 (CGYC active site) and SmGRX3 (CPYG) recombinant proteins displayed deglutathionylation activity in the 2-hydroethyldisulfide assay, whereas SmGRX2 (CGFS) did not. Mutation of SmGRX3 did not affect S. meliloti growth or symbiotic capacities. In contrast, SmGRX1 and SmGRX2 mutations decreased the growth of free-living bacteria and the nitrogen fixation capacity of bacteroids. Mutation of SmGRX1 led to nodule abortion and an absence of bacteroid differentiation, whereas SmGRX2 mutation decreased nodule development without modifying bacteroid development. The higher sensitivity of the Smgrx1 mutant strain as compared with wild-type strain to oxidative stress was associated with larger amounts of glutathionylated proteins. The Smgrx2 mutant strain displayed significantly lower levels of activity than the wild type for two iron-sulfur-containing enzymes, aconitase and succinate dehydrogenase. This lower level of activity could be associated with deregulation of the transcriptional activity of the RirA iron regulator and higher intracellular iron content. Thus, two S. meliloti Grx proteins are essential for symbiotic nitrogen fixation, playing independent roles in bacterial differentiation and the regulation of iron metabolism.