BackgroundRhizobia symbionts elicit root nodule formation in leguminous plants. Nodule development requires local accumulation of auxin. Both plants and rhizobia synthesise auxin. We have addressed the effects of bacterial auxin (IAA) on nodulation by using Sinorhizobium meliloti and Rhizobium leguminosarum bacteria genetically engineered for increased auxin synthesis.ResultsIAA-overproducing S. meliloti increased nodulation in Medicago species, whilst the increased auxin synthesis of R. leguminosarum had no effect on nodulation in Phaseolus vulgaris, a legume bearing determinate nodules. Indeterminate legumes (Medicago species) bearing IAA-overproducing nodules showed an enhanced lateral root development, a process known to be regulated by both IAA and nitric oxide (NO). Higher NO levels were detected in indeterminate nodules of Medicago plants formed by the IAA-overproducing rhizobia. The specific NO scavenger cPTIO markedly reduced nodulation induced by wild type and IAA-overproducing strains.ConclusionThe data hereby presented demonstrate that auxin synthesised by rhizobia and nitric oxide positively affect indeterminate nodule formation and, together with the observation of increased expression of an auxin efflux carrier in roots bearing nodules with higher IAA and NO content, support a model of nodule formation that involves auxin transport regulation and NO synthesis.

The Tax protein expressed by human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) plays a pivotal role in the deregulation of cellular pathways involved in the immune response, inflammation, cell survival, and cancer. Many of these effects derive from Tax multiple interactions with host factors, including the subunits of the IKK-complex that are required for NF-κB activation. IKKɛ and TBK1 are two IKK-related kinases that allow the phosphorylation of interferon regulatory factors that trigger IFN type I gene expression. We observed that IKKɛ and TBK1 recruit Tax into cellular immunocomplexes. We also found that TRAF3, which regulates cell receptor signaling effectors, forms complexes with Tax. Transactivation analyses revealed that expression of Tax, in presence of IKKɛ and TBK1, enhances IFN-β promoter activity, whereas the activation of NF-κB promoter is not modified. We propose that Tax may be recruited into the TBK1/IKKɛ complexes as a scaffolding-adaptor protein that enhances IFN-I gene expression.

Post-translational modifications of HTLV-1 and HTLV-2 Tax-1 and Tax-2 proteins have been shown to play a critical role in their cellular localization, transactivation and protein interactions. Five of ten lysine residues were found to be major targets for Tax-1 modifications: Lys189(K4); Lys197(K5), Lys263(K6), Lys280(K7) and Lys284(K8), are essential for ubiquitination, while sumoylation takes place on Lys280 (K7) and Lys284(K8). Tax-2 contains four additional lysine residues, namely at position Lys100(K2i), Lys149(K3i), Lys185(K3ii), and Lys356(K10i).Very few studies have been so far performed on Tax-2 lysine mutants. We have previously demonstrated that Tax-2B is ubiquitinated and sumoylated similarly to Tax-1. To identify the Tax-2 lysine residues which are directly involved in post-translational modifications, we have constructed a series of Tax-2B mutants with substitutions of lysine (K) residues by arginines (R) and analyzed them for NF-kB and CREB/ATF transactivation, intracellular distribution and extent of ubiquitination and sumoylation. We have found that Tax-2 K7-8R mutant, contrary to its Tax-1 homologue, is only partially affected in its capacity to transactivate NF-B pathway, is regularly sumoylated and presents formation of nuclear bodies by confocal analysis. However, Tax-2 mutants with extended (K3ii-8R) and/or total (K1-10iR) mutation rate were severely affected for NF-kB transactivation and sumoylation. By comparing Tax-2 WT with mutants K7-8R and K3ii-8R, we observed that the reduction of NF-B activity is correlated to a parallel decrease in sumoylation. These results suggest that the target for Tax-2 ubiquitination and sumoylation differs from that described for Tax-1.

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The HTLV-1 infection is known to induce an alteration of type I interferon (IFN-I) signaling since it is capable of escaping IFN-mediated immune response in vitro and Tax-1 protein modulates the expression of factors involved in the interferon signaling. In the present study we have investigated the effect of Tax-1 and Tax-2 expression on the activation of an IFN-regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) regulated promoter through the recruitment of the IFN-I upstream IKKε and TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) factors, two IkBrelated kinase homologues, which are essential for the activation of IRF3 pathway. We have demonstrated that both Tax-1 and Tax-2 were detectable in immuno-complexes formed by IKKε and TBK1 in HEK 293T transfected cells, but did not interact with the IRF3 factor. The presence of Tax-1 and IKKε in transfected cells resulted in a significant activation of the IRF3 regulated promoter. A similar effect was measured in the presence of Tax-1 and TBK1. We have also observed that Tax-1 mutants defective in sumoylation and ubiquitination post-translational modification were impaired in their ability to form complexes with IKKε or TBK1 and in the transactivating activity on IRF3 dependent promoter.These data provide evidence for a role of Tax proteins in the activation of IFN-I pathway, mediated by interaction with IKKε and TBK1 kinases. The effects of the Tax interaction with factors that act upstream of interferon regulatory factor IRF3 should be taken into account to further explain the IFN-mediated immune response to HTLV-1 infection. This study is funded by AIRCCariverona.