Mediation of plant–mycorrhizal interaction by a lectin receptor-like kinase

• DOI: 10.1038/s41477-019-0469-x
• Publication Date: 2019-07-08T16:05:17Z
• Authors: Jessy Labbé; Wellington Muchero; Olaf Czarnecki; Juan Wang; Xiaoping Wang; Anthony C. Bryan; Kaijie Zheng; Yongil Yang; Meng Xie; Jin Zhang; Dongfang Wang; Peter Meidl; Hemeng Wang; Jennifer L. Morre...; Kevin R. Cope; Lucas G. S. Maia; Jean-Michel Ané; Ritesh Mewalal; Sara S. Jawdy; Lee E. Gunter; Wendy Schackwitz; Joel Martin; François Le Tacon; Ting Li; Zhihao Zhang; Priya Ranjan; Erika Lindquist; Xiaohan Yang; Daniel A. Jacobson; Timothy J. Tschap...; Kerrie Barry; Jeremy Schmutz; Jin-Gui Chen; Gerald A. Tuskan
• Keywords: Ectomycorrhiza; Arbuscular mycorrhiza

The molecular mechanisms underlying mycorrhizal symbioses, the most ubiquitous and impactful mutualistic plant-microbial interaction in nature, are largely unknown. Through genetic mapping, resequencing and molecular validation, we demonstrate that a G-type lectin receptor-like kinase (lecRLK) mediates the symbiotic interaction between Populus and the ectomycorrhizal fungus Laccaria bicolor. This finding uncovers an important molecular step in the establishment of symbiotic plant-fungal associations and provides a molecular target for engineering beneficial mycorrhizal relationships.