The nitrogen-fixing symbiotic cyanobacterium, Nostoc punctiforme can regulate plant programmed cell death

Abstract

Cyanobacteria such as Nostoc spp. can form nitrogen-fixing symbioses with a broad range of plant species. Unlike other plant-bacteria symbioses, little is understood about the immunological and developmental signalling events induced by Nostoc cyanobionts (symbiotic cyanobacteria). Here, we used suspension cell cultures to elucidate the early molecular mechanisms underpinning the association between cyanobionts and plants by studying the effects of conditioned medium (CM) from Nostoc punctiforme cultures on plant programmed cell death (PCD), a typical immune response activated during incompatible interactions. We showed that N. punctiforme-CM could suppress PCD induced by a temperature stress. Interestingly, this was preceded by significant transcriptional reprogramming, as evidenced by the differential regulation of a network of defence-associated genes, as well as genes implicated in regulating cell growth and differentiation. This work is the first to show that cyanobionts can regulate PCD in plants and provides a valuable transcriptome resource for the early immunological and developmental signalling events elicited by Nostoc cyanobionts.