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ABSTRACT Legume plants can assimilate inorganic nitrogen and have access to fixed nitrogen through symbiotic interaction with diazotrophic bacteria called rhizobia. Symbiotic nitrogen
fixation is an energy-consuming process and is strongly inhibited when sufficient levels of fixed nitrogen are available, but the molecular mechanisms governing this regulation are largely
unknown. The transcription factor nodule inception (NIN) is strictly required for nodulation and belongs to a family of NIN-like proteins (NLPs), which have been implicated in the regulation
of nitrogen homeostasis in _Arabidopsis_. Here, we show that mutation or downregulation of _NLP_ genes prevents nitrate inhibition of infection, nodule formation and nitrogen fixation. We
find that NIN and NLPs physically interact through their carboxy-terminal PB1 domains. Furthermore, we find that NLP1 is required for the expression of nitrate-responsive genes and that
nitrate triggers NLP1 re-localization from the cytosol to the nucleus. Finally, we show that NLP1 can suppress NIN activation of _CRE1_ expression in _Nicotiana_ _benthamiana_ and _Medicago_
_truncatula_. Our findings highlight a central role for NLPs in the suppression of nodulation by nitrate. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription
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* Log in * Learn about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS THE B-TYPE RESPONSE REGULATOR GMRR11D MEDIATES SYSTEMIC
INHIBITION OF SYMBIOTIC NODULATION Article Open access 10 December 2022 TRANSFER CELLS MEDIATE NITRATE UPTAKE TO CONTROL ROOT NODULE SYMBIOSIS Article 08 June 2020 THE TYPE III EFFECTOR NOPL
INTERACTS WITH GMREM1A AND GMNFR5 TO PROMOTE SYMBIOSIS IN SOYBEAN Article Open access 12 July 2024 DATA AVAILABILITY The data that support the findings of this study are available from the
corresponding author upon request. CHANGE HISTORY * _ 16 NOVEMBER 2018 In the version of this Article originally published, the name of author Zhenpeng Luo was incorrectly listed as Zhenpeng
Luo Luo. Additionally, nitrate in Fig. 6b was incorrectly shown as ‘NO3+’ rather than ‘NO3–’. This has now been amended. _ REFERENCES * Murray, J. D., Liu, C. W., Chen, Y. & Miller, A.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank G. Hong (Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, CAS, China) for help with the ARA assays, Y. Wang (Shandong Agricultural University, China) for kindly
providing the proNRP-YFP vector and J. Murray (SIPPE, China) for making constructive suggestions on the work and helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was funded by grants from the
National Key R&D Program of China (2016YFA0500500 and 2016YFD0100702), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31670242) and XDPB0400 of CAS to F.X. AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS
AND AFFILIATIONS * National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China Jie-shun Lin, Xiaolin Li, Zhenpeng Luo & Fang Xie * University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China Jie-shun Lin & Zhenpeng Luo *
Noble Research Institute, LLC, Ardmore, OK, USA Kirankumar S. Mysore & Jiangqi Wen Authors * Jie-shun Lin View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google
Scholar * Xiaolin Li View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Zhenpeng Luo View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed
Google Scholar * Kirankumar S. Mysore View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Jiangqi Wen View author publications You can also search for
this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Fang Xie View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS F.X. and J.-s.L. designed the research.
J.-s.L. conducted most of the experiments. X.L. did the sections. Z.L. conducted the ARA assays. K.S.M. and J.W. carried out the _Tnt1_ insertion screening. F.X. and J.-s.L. wrote the paper.
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Fang Xie. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare no competing interests. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Springer Nature
remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary Figures 1–13 and
Supplementary Table 1. REPORTING SUMMARY RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Lin, Js., Li, X., Luo, Z. _et al._ NIN interacts with NLPs to
mediate nitrate inhibition of nodulation in _Medicago truncatula_. _Nature Plants_ 4, 942–952 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-018-0261-3 Download citation * Received: 09 October 2017
* Accepted: 21 August 2018 * Published: 08 October 2018 * Issue Date: November 2018 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-018-0261-3 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link
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