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Fungal Elicitation of Signal Transduction-Related Plant Genes Precedes Mycorrhiza Establishment and Requires the dmi3 Gene in Medicago truncatula

Suppressive subtractive hybridization and expressed sequence tag sequencing identified 29 plant genes which are upregulated during the appressorium stage of mycorrhiza establishment between Medicago truncatula J5 (Myc⁺) and Glomus mosseae. Eleven genes coding plant proteins with predicted functions in signal transduction, transcription, and translation were investigated in more detail for their relation to early events of symbiotic interactions. Expression profiling showed that the genes are activated not only from the appressorium stage up to the fully established symbiosis in the Myc⁺ genotype of M. truncatula, but also when the symbionts are not in direct cell contact, suggesting that diffusible fungal molecules (Myc factors) play a role in the induction of a signal-transduction pathway. Transcript accumulation in roots of a mycorrhiza-defective Myc^- dmi3 mutant of M. truncatula is not modified by appressorium formation or diffusible fungal molecules, indicating that the signal transduction pathway is required for a successful G. mosseae-M. truncatula interaction leading to symbiosis development. The symbiotic nodulating bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti does not activate the 11 genes, which supposes early discrimination by plant roots between the microbial symbionts.