Rhizobial infection and root nodule formation in legumes require recognition of signal molecules produced by the bacteria and their hosts. Here, we show that rhizobial transfer RNA (tRNA)-derived small RNA fragments (tRFs) are signal molecules that modulate host nodulation. Three families of rhizobial tRFs were confirmed to regulate host genes associated with nodule initiation and development through hijacking the host RNA-interference machinery that involves ARGONAUTE 1. Silencing individual tRFs with the use of short tandem target mimics or by overexpressing their targets represses root hair curling and nodule formation, whereas repressing these targets with artificial microRNAs identical to the respective tRFs or mutating these targets with CRISPR-Cas9 promotes nodulation. Our findings thus uncover a bacterial small RNA–mediated mechanism for prokaryote-eukaryote interaction and may pave the way for enhancing nodulation efficiency in legumes.

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Cytokinin signaling is mediated by a multiple-step phosphorelay. Key components of the phosphorelay consist of the histidine kinase (HK)-type receptors, histidine phosphotransfer proteins (HP), and response regulators (RRs). Whereas overexpression of a nonreceptor-type HK gene CYTOKININ-INDEPENDENT1 (CKI1) activates cytokinin signaling by an unknown mechanism, mutations in CKI1 cause female gametophytic lethality. However, the function of CKI1 in cytokinin signaling remains unclear. Here, we characterize a mutant allele, cki1-8, that can be transmitted through female gametophytes with low frequency (;0.17%). We have recovered viable homozygous cki1-8 mutant plants that grow larger than wild-type plants, show defective megagametogenesis and rarely set enlarged seeds. We found that CKI1 acts upstream of AHP (Arabidopsis HP) genes, independently of cytokinin receptor genes. Consistently, an ahp1,2-2,3,4,5 quintuple mutant, which contains an ahp2-2 null mutant allele, exhibits severe defects in megagametogenesis, with a transmission efficiency of <3.45% through female gametophytes. Rarely recovered ahp1,2-2,3,4,5 quintuple mutants are seedling lethal. Finally, the female gametophytic lethal phenotype of cki1-5 (a null mutant) can be partially rescued by IPT8 or ARR1 (a type-B Arabidopsis RR) driven by a CKI1 promoter. These results define a genetic pathway consisting of CKI1, AHPs, and type-B ARRs in the regulation of female gametophyte development and vegetative growth.

Cytokinin is an essential phytohormone in plant growth and development. In Arabidopsis, cytokinin signalling is mediated by a phosphorelay that sequentially transfers phosphoryl groups from the cytokinin receptors to histidine phosphotransfer proteins (AHPs) and response regulators (ARRs). However, little is known about the regulatory mechanism of the phosphorelay. Here, we show that nitric oxide negatively regulates cytokinin signalling by inhibiting the phosphorelay activity through S-nitrosylation. S-nitrosylation of AHP1 at Cys 115 represses its phosphorylation and subsequent transfer of the phosphoryl group to ARR1. A non-nitrosylatable mutation of AHP1 renders the mutant protein insensitive to nitric oxide in repressing its phosphorylation, and partially relieves the inhibitory effect of nitric oxide on the cytokinin response. Conversely, a nitrosomimetic mutation of AHP1 causes reduced phosphorylation of AHP1 and ARR1, thereby resulting in a compromised cytokinin response. These findings illustrate a mechanism by which redox signalling and cytokinin signalling coordinate plant growth and development.

Nitric oxide (NO) regulates diverse cellular signaling through S-nitrosylation of specific Cys residues of target proteins. The intracellular level of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO), a major bioactive NO species, is regulated by GSNO reductase (GSNOR), a highly conserved master regulator of NO signaling. However, little is known about how the activity of GSNOR is regulated. Here, we show that S-nitrosylation induces selective autophagy of Arabidopsis GSNOR1 during hypoxia responses. S-nitrosylation of GSNOR1 at Cys-10 induces conformational changes, exposing its AUTOPHAGY-RELATED8 (ATG8)-interacting motif (AIM) accessible by autophagy machinery. Upon binding by ATG8, GSNOR1 is recruited into the autophagosome and degraded in an AIM-dependent manner. Physiologically, the S-nitrosylation-induced selective autophagy of GSNOR1 is relevant to hypoxia responses. Our discovery reveals a unique mechanism by which S-nitrosylation mediates selective autophagy of GSNOR1, thereby establishing a molecular link between NO signaling and autophagy.

Cytokinin is a critical growth regulator for various aspects of plant growth and development. In Arabidopsis, cytokinin signaling is mediated by a two-component system-based phosphorelay that transmits a signal from the receptors, through histidine phosphotransfer proteins, to the downstream response regulators (ARRs). Of these ARRs, type-A ARR genes, whose transcription can be rapidly induced by cytokinin, act as negative regulators of cytokinin signaling. However, because of functional redundancy, the function of type-A ARR genes in plant growth and development is not well understood by analyzing loss-of-function mutants. In this study, we performed a comparative functional study on all ten type-A ARR genes by analyzing transgenic plants overexpressing these ARR genes fused to a MYC epitope tag. Overexpression of ARR genes results in a variety of cytokinin-associated phenotypes. Notably, overexpression of different ARR transgenes causes diverse phenotypes, even between phylogenetically closely-related gene pairs, such as within the ARR3-ARR4 and ARR5-ARR6 pairs. We found that the accumulation of a subset of ARR proteins (ARR3, ARR5, ARR7, ARR16 and ARR17; possibly ARR8 and ARR15) is increased by MG132, a specific proteasomal inhibitor, indicating that stability of these proteins is regulated by proteasomal degradation. Moreover, similar to that of previously characterized ARR5, ARR6 and ARR7, stability of ARR16 and ARR17, possibly including ARR8 and ARR15, is regulated by cytokinin. These results suggest that type-A ARR proteins are regulated by a combinatorial mechanism involving both the cytokinin and proteasome pathways, thereby executing distinctive functions in plant growth and development.

In higher plants, seed germination is followed by postgerminative growth. One of the key developmental events during postgerminative growth is cotyledon greening, which enables a seedling to establish photosynthetic capacity. The plant phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) plays a vital role by inhibiting seed germination and postgerminative growth in response to dynamically changing internal and environmental cues. It has been shown that abscisic acid insensitive5 (ABI5), a basic leucine zipper transcription factor, is an important factor in the regulation of the ABA-mediated inhibitory effect on seed germination and postgerminative growth. Conversely, the phytohormone cytokinin has been proposed to promote seed germination by antagonizing the ABA-mediated inhibitory effect. However, the underpinning molecular mechanism of cytokinin-repressed ABA signaling is largely unknown. Here, we show that cytokinin specifically antagonizes ABA-mediated inhibition of cotyledon greening with minimal effects on seed germination in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana). We found that the cytokinin-antagonized ABA effect is dependent on a functional cytokinin signaling pathway, mainly involved in the cytokinin receptor gene cytokinin response1/Arabidopsis histidine kinase4, downstream histidine phosphotransfer protein genes AHP2, AHP3, and AHP5, and a type B response regulator gene, ARR12, which genetically acts upstream of ABI5 to regulate cotyledon greening. Cytokinin has no apparent effect on the transcription of ABI5. However, cytokinin efficiently promotes the proteasomal degradation of ABI5 in a cytokinin signaling-dependent manner. These results define a genetic pathway through which cytokinin specifically induces the degradation of ABI5 protein, thereby antagonizing ABA-mediated inhibition of postgerminative growth.