The Power of Symbiosis in Life and Science

This article traces more than four decades of Eva Kondorosi's personal life and scientific journey in symbiotic nitrogen fixation, from early insights into nitrogenase structure to the molecular mechanisms governing root nodule development and symbiotic cell differentiation in the Medicago-Sinorhizobium meliloti symbiosis. Effective symbiosis depends on precise molecular communication between the partners, beginning in the soil and continuing through a highly coordinated, progressive differentiation program. A defining feature of symbiotic cell development is endoreduplication in both host plant cells and their Rhizobium partners. Host-induced bacterial endoreduplication results in the formation of large, polyploid, noncultivable nitrogen-fixing bacteroids. This terminal differentiation is orchestrated by plant-derived effector peptides, notably nodule-specific cysteine-rich (NCR) and nodulin glycine-rich (nodGRP) peptides, which act sequentially to reprogram bacterial physiology. Together, these findings establish symbiotic nitrogen fixation as a model for cross-kingdom cellular differentiation and highlight NCR and nodGRP peptides as a vast, largely unexplored resource with promising applications in agriculture and medicine.