Contribution of transgenic Casuarinaceae to our knowledge of the actinorhizal symbioses

Sergio Svistoonoff (1) , Hassen Gherbi (1) , Mathish Nambiar-Veetil (2) , Chonglu Zhong (3) , Zuzanna Michalak (1) , Laurent Laplaze (1) , Virginie Vaissayre (1) , Florence Auguy (1) , Valérie Hocher (1) , Patrick Doumas (4, 4) , Jocelyne Bonneau (1) , Didier Bogusz (1) , Claudine Franche (1)

1 UMR DIAPC - Diversité et adaptation des plantes cultivées
2 Plant Biotechnology Division
3 Research Institute of Tropical Forestry
4 BPMP - Biochimie et Physiologie Moléculaire des Plantes

The Casuarinaceae family is a group of 96 species of trees and shrubs that are tolerant to adverse soil and climatic conditions. In the field, Casuarinaceae bears nitrogen-fixing root nodules (so called actinorhizal nodules) resulting from infection by the soil actinomycete Frankia. The association between Casuarina and Frankia is of tremendous ecological importance in tropical and subtropical areas where these trees contribute to land stabilization and soil reclamation. During differentiation of the actinorhizal nodule, a set of genes called actinorhizal nodulins is activated in the developing nodule. Understanding the molecular basis of actinorhizal nodule ontogenesis requires molecular tools such as genomics together with gene transfer technologies for functional analysis of symbiotic genes. Using the biological vectors Agrobacterium rhizogenes and A. tumefaciens, gene transfer into the two species Allocasuarina verticillata and Casuarina glauca has been successful. Transgenic Casuarinaceae plants proved to be valuable tools for exploring the molecular mechanisms resulting from the infection process of actinorhizal plants by Frankia.

Mots clés: nodule development; hairy root; agrobacterium-rhizogenes; Casuarina; Allocasuarina; Actinorhizal symbiosis; Frankia; Agrobacterium; tumefaciens; Agrobacterium rhizogenes; Root hair infection; alnus-glutinosa; arabidopsis-thaliana; cell-cycle; legume evolution; nitrogen-fixing tree; lateral root initiation; tree allocasuarina-verticillata; signaling pathway; Symbiotic

Domaines: Biologie végétale; Biologie animale; Biologie du développement

Sergio Svistoonoff, Hassen Gherbi, Mathish Nambiar-Veetil, Chonglu Zhong, Zuzanna Michalak, et al.. Contribution of transgenic Casuarinaceae to our knowledge of the actinorhizal symbioses. Symbiosis, 2010, 50 (1-2), pp.3-11. ⟨10.1007/s13199-009-0036-8⟩. ⟨hal-01833620⟩