This NSF-funded project uses functional genomics to investigate the process of legume root hair infection by nitrogen-fixing rhizobia. This infection initiates the symbiosis between this bacterium and its host that will result in the de novo formation of a novel organ, the nodule. It is within the nodule that the bacterium fixes nitrogen providing its host plant an advantage in environments where this element is limiting. The establishment of the symbiosis involves a complex interplay between host and symbiont, which is orchestrated by the exchange of diffusible signal molecules. The infection process displays complex cell biology, which occurs within the single-cell, root hair. The infection thread by which the bacteria gain entry into the cell is a unique structure in plant biology. The molecular mechanisms that give rise to this structure and, indeed, to most of the cell biological changes occurring in the root hair are unknown beyond the microscopic level.
More about the project here.

This project is funded by the NSF Plant Genome Research Program, and involves a close collaboration among three research labs:

• Stacey Laboratory at the University of Missouri, Columbia

• Clough Laboratory at the USDA-ARS, University of Illinois, Urbana

• Taylor Laboratory at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Our project interacts closely with education programs at each participating institution (e.g., LSUROP) and also seeks to bring modern functional genomic methods to the undergraduate classroom.
More about educational features of the project here.

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