Cell biological changes of outer cortical root cells in early determinate nodulation.

In the symbiosis of leguminous plants and Rhizobium bacteria, nodule primordia develop in the root cortex. This can be either in the inner cortex (indeterminate-type of nodulation) or outer cortex (determinate-type of nodulation), depending upon the host plant. We studied and compared early nodulation stages in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and Lotus japonicus, both known as determinate-type nodulation plants. Special attention was paid to the occurrence of cytoplasmic bridges, the influence of rhizobial Nod factors (lipochitin oligosaccharides [LCOs]) on this phenomenon, and sensitivity of the nodulation process to ethylene. Our results show that i) both plant species form initially broad, matrix-rich infection threads; ii) cytoplasmic bridges occur in L. japonicus but not in bean; iii) formation of these bridges is induced by rhizobial LCOs; iv) formation of primordia starts in L. japonicus in the middle root cortex and in bean in the outer root cortex; and v) in the presence of the ethylene-biosynthesis inhibitor aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG), nodulation of L. japonicus is stimulated when the roots are grown in the light, which is consistent with the role of cytoplasmic bridges during nodulation of L. japonicus.

Nod factors produced by Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae induce ethylene-related changes in root cortical cells of Vicia sativa ssp. nigra.

Vicia sativa ssp. nigra plants develop the "Thick short root" (Tsr) phenotype when both (i) the roots are inoculated with the root nodule inducing bacterium Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae, and (ii) the plants, including the roots, are grown in the light. Tsr roots have a reduced length, are locally twice as thick as normal roots and have an increased number of root hairs. Development of the Tsr phenotype is correlated with the presence of nod (nodulation) genes in the rhizobia. Nod factors (lipochitin oligosaccharides), products of these nod genes, can induce the Tsr phenotype in the absence of rhizobia. The Tsr phenotype can be mimicked by addition of the ethylene-releasing compound ethephon. Using several microscopical techniques, we compared roots showing the Tsr phenotype (Tsr roots) with normal roots and roots grown in the presence of the ethylene inhibitor aminoethoxyvinylglycine (AVG). The thickening of Tsr roots appeared to be caused by a swelling of the cortical cells, which corresponded with (i) a reorientation of the interphase cortical microtubules from a transverse to a longitudinal direction, (ii) general cell wall modifications, (iii) frequent absence of middle lamellae, and (iv) local maceration. The same changes could be induced by ethephon and were inhibited by AVG. This strongly suggests that the Tsr phenotype is caused by excessive ethylene production. The ethylene-related changes mentioned above are also seen during infection thread formation, but only very locally. Apparently, Vicia roots when grown in the light overrespond to Nod factors leading to overproduction of ethylene and to a non-local "ripening" process. These phenomena inhibit nodulation of the main root by preventing formation of pre-infected threads and by reducing formation of root nodule primordia. Local controlled production of ethylene, as induced by Nod factors, may, however, be an essential element of the nodulation process.

Cell wall degradation during infection thread formation by the root nodule bacterium Rhizobium leguminosarum is a two-step process.

In the nitrogen-fixing root-nodule symbiosis of Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae and its host plants pea and vetch, the bacteria enter one root cortical cell after another via a tip-growing structure, the infection thread. Rhizobial Nod (nodulation) factors induce the formation of preinfection thread structures (Van Brussel, A.A.N., R. Bakhuizen, P.C. van Spronsen, H.P. Spaink, T. Tak, B.J.J. Lugtenberg, J.W. Kijne, Science 257, 70-72 (1992)), but formation of infection threads requires the presence of bacterial cells. Passing of an infection thread from cell to cell requires local cell wall degradation. We compared at the ultrastructural level local cell wall changes in the outer root cortex of pea and vetch related to preinfection thread formation and infection thread formation, respectively. Cell wall modifications in the outer periclinal walls of root cortical cells induced by Nod factors appeared to be similar to those induced by rhizobia. These modifications take place opposite cytoplasmic bridges and are probably related to induction of tip growth. However, complete cell wall degradation was never observed in the absence of rhizobia. We propose a two-step cell wall degradation process for infection thread formation. The first step is a local cell wall modification by plant enzymes, induced by rhizobial Nod factors. The second step is complete cell wall degradation in the presence of rhizobia.

Induction of pre-infection thread structures in the leguminous host plant by mitogenic lipo-oligosaccharides of Rhizobium.

Root nodules of leguminous plants are symbiotic organs in which Rhizobium bacteria fix nitrogen. Their formation requires the induction of a nodule meristem and the formation of a tubular structure, the infection thread, through which the rhizobia reach the nodule primordium. In the Rhizobium host plants pea and vetch, pre-infection thread structures always preceded the formation of infection threads. These structures consisted of cytoplasmic bridges traversing the central vacuole of outer cortical root cells, aligned in radial rows. In vetch, the site of the infection thread was determined by the plant rather than by the invading rhizobia. Like nodule primordia, pre-infection thread structures could be induced in the absence of rhizobia provided that mitogenic lipo-oligosaccharides produced by Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae were added to the plant. In this case, cells in the two outer cortical cell layers containing cytoplasmic bridges may have formed root hairs. A common morphogenetic pathway may be shared in the formation of root hairs and infection threads.

Correlation between infection by Rhizobium leguminosarum and lectin on the surface of Pisum sativum L. roots.

The lectin on the surface of 4- and 5-dold pea roots was located by the use of indirect immunofluorescence. Specific antibodies raised in rabbits against pea seed isolectin 2, which crossreact with root lectins, were used as primary immunoglobulins and were visualized with fluorescein- or tetramethylrhodamine-isothiocyanate-labeled goat antirabbit immunoglobulin G. Lectin was observed on the tips of newly formed, growing root hairs and on epidermal cells located just below the young hairs. On both types of cells, lectin was concentrated in dense small patches rather than uniformly distributed. Lectin-positive young hairs were grouped opposite the (proto)xylematic poles. Older but still-elongating root hairs presented only traces of lectin or none at all. A similar pattern of distribution was found in different pea cultivars, as well as in a supernodulating and a non-nodulating pea mutant. Growth in a nitrate concentration which inhibits nodulation did not affect lectin distribution on the surface of pea roots of this age. We tested whether or not the root zones where lectin was observed were susceptible to infection by Rhizobium leguminosarum. When low inoculum doses (consisting of less than 10(6) bacteria·ml(-1)) were placed next to lectin-positive epidermal cells and on newly formed root hairs, nodules on the primary roots were formed in 73% and 90% of the plants, respectively. Only a few plants showed primary root nodulation when the inoculum was placed on the root zone where lectin was scarce or absent. These results show that lectin is present at those sites on the pea root that are susceptible to infection by the bacterial symbiont.

Cell Division in Nautilocalyx Explants III. Effects of 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile on Phragmosome, Band of Microtubules and Cytokinesis.

In the highly vacuolated epidermis cells of leaf explants of Nautilocalyx we investigated whether inhibition of cytokinesis by 2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile (DCB) could be caused by a suppression of the formation of phragmosome and band of microtubules (BMT), two structures which are probably involved in cytokinesis and in the determination of the plane of cell division. Interference contrast microscopy showed that DCB (116 µM) did not interfere with the formation of phragmosome and BMT in the expected plane of cell division. Also the positioning of the nucleus and the nuclear division proceeded normally. The phragmoplast was formed, and cell plate formation started, but in most cases the cell plate was not completed. After some time the part of the cell plate already formed shrank: folds appeared, and sometimes tears. The phragmoplast remained present for a long time after this premature end of cell plate growth. Electron microscopical studies showed a shortage of small Golgi vesicles with electron-dense contents in the plane of cell division where very large vesicles with little electron-dense material were present. Furthermore a dilatation of the endoplasmic reticulum in the microtubule zone of the phragmoplast was observed. These results indicate that the DCB-inhibition of cytokinesis does not result from interference with phragmosome and BMT. It seems likely that cytokinesis stops because a weak cell plate is formed that does not mature to a firm cell wall.