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Updated: Oct 15, 2025

Plant Promoter Analysis: Identification and Characterization of Root Nodule Specific Promoter in the Common Bean
Published on: December 23, 2017
Processing of NODULE INCEPTION controls the transition to nitrogen fixation in root nodules
Jian Feng1, Tak Lee1,2, Katharina Schiessl1
1Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, 47 Bateman Street, Cambridge CB2 1LR, UK.
Abstract:
Legume nodules create an environment for intracellular bacterial symbionts to fix atmospheric nitrogen. The master regulator NODULE INCEPTION (NIN) controls many aspects of nodule initiation, and we demonstrate that it also regulates the transition to nitrogen fixation via proteolytic processing by a signal peptidase complex. Processing of NIN results in a carboxyl-terminal NIN fragment containing the DNA binding motifs, which activates a suite of genes associated with symbiosome development and nitrogen fixation. Similar NIN processing is observed in Medicago truncatula and Lotus japonicus, implying a conserved mechanism of cell state transition. These findings explain how legume nodules transition to a nitrogen-fixing state and a mechanism by which a single transcription factor can regulate many different developmental processes necessary in the activation and regulation of nitrogen fixation.
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