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Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Root nodules do not form when legumes are kept in the dark. However, working with soybeans, the researchers noticed that nodulation was more

substantial when the plants were illuminated with blue rather than red light, even though both regimes supported photosynthesis equally well. A series of experiments involving grafting

together shoots and roots of plants that either lacked or overexpressed various blue light sensors showed that CRY1 was needed in leaves for nodulation to occur in roots. The researchers

further showed that, of the many proteins whose production is controlled by CRY1, two were required for roots to form nodules. These were a TGACG-motif binding factor and FLOWERING LOCUS T.

Further grafting experiments demonstrated that these proteins actually travelled from the shoots of the soybeans to their roots, where the TGACG-motif binding factor is phosphorylated by a

calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, itself activated by the presence of rhizobia in the soil. Once phosphorylated, the TGACG-motif binding factor binds to FLOWERING LOCUS T, and this

complex induces the transcription of a variety of factors long known to drive nodule development. These two mobile, light-induced signals thus inform the plant’s roots about the capacity of

its leaves to photosynthesise. In this way the legume makes nodules only when the sun shines. This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution ACCESS OPTIONS Access

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Contact customer support REFERENCE * Wang, T. et al. Light-induced mobile factors from shoots regulate rhizobium-triggered soybean root nodulation. _Science_ 374, 65–71 (2021). Article  CAS

  Google Scholar  Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Nature Plants https://www.nature.com/nplants Chris Surridge Authors * Chris Surridge View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Chris Surridge. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS

ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Surridge, C. Light regulation of nodulation. _Nat. Plants_ 7, 1437 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-01022-9 Download citation * Published: 29 October 2021

* Issue Date: November 2021 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-021-01022-9 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: Get shareable

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