Distinct roles of Lotus japonicus SYMRK and SYM15 in root colonization and arbuscule formation

•  The colonization of Lotus japonicus roots by the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Glomus intraradices was analysed in plant mutants affected in the symbiosis genes, SYM15 or SYMRK. SYMRK encodes an LRR receptor-like kinase that is, like the SYM15 gene, essential for both mycorrhizal and rhizobial symbioses. •  Different colonization patterns were observed in growing vs meristematically arrested roots. •  Three steps in the interaction were differentially impaired in the mutants: surface opening, where the anticlinal cell walls of two adjacent epidermal cells separate from each other in the vicinity of fungal hyphae; intracellular passage of hyphae through an exodermal cell and an adjacent cell of the outermost cortical layer; and arbuscule formation in cells of the two innermost cortical layers. •  The combined results indicate that LjSYMRK is required for the intracellular passage through exodermis and outermost cortical cell layer whereas LjSYM15 is required for surface opening and arbuscule formation.