Olga Kulikova

Abstract Nitrogen-fixing nodule symbiosis is an ecologically and economically important trait in legumes and some related species. A critical step in the evolution of nodulation is the recruitment of NODULE INCEPTION (NIN); a homolog of the nitrate-sensing NIN-LIKE PROTEIN (NLP) transcription factors. However, whether adaptations have occurred in the NIN protein upon its recruitment in symbiosis remains elusive.

Introduction In plants, the shaping, spacing and orientation of aboveground tissues collectively establish a certain shoot architecture. Shoot growth is a modular process, in which nodes harbouring lateral organs such as leaves, flowers and axillary shoots are separated by organ-free internodes (Wang et al., 2018), the total product of which determines optimal cultivation strategies in agriculture.

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