Dr. Ágota Domonkos - MATE Research
Overview
Ágota Domonkos is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Genetics and Biotechnology. Her research focuses on the identification, molecular and biochemical characterization of plant components essential in the later stages of nodule development, rhizobial invasion, development and function of symbiosome. New research area is the study of mycorrhizal symbiosis in M. truncatula, mainly using root mutants.
Our research group has collaboration in France, Great Britain and China
Research keywords:
Publications
We are currently characterizing and analyzing M. truncatula mutants defective in the later stages of nodule organogenesis: rhizobia in the symbiosomes do not undergo into terminal differentiation. This premature form rhizobia are not able to produce all the machinery which are needed for the reduction of Nitrogen.
Güngör, B., Biró, J.B., Domonkos, Á. et al. Targeted mutagenesis of Medicago truncatula Nodule-specific Cysteine-Rich (NCR) genes using the Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated CRISPR/Cas9 system. Sci Rep 13, 20676 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-47608-5
Farheen Saifi, János Barnabás Biró, Beatrix Horváth, Csaba Vizler, Krisztián Laczi, Gábor Rákhely, Szilárd Kovács, Mingming Kang, Dengyao Li, Yuhui Chen, Rujin Chen, Ágota Domonkos, Péter Kaló, Two members of a Nodule‐specific Cysteine‐Rich (NCR) peptide gene cluster are required for differentiation of rhizobia in Medicago truncatula nodules, The Plant Journal, 10.1111/tpj.16871, 119, 3, (1508-1525), (2024). https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19097
Horváth, B., Domonkos, Á., Kereszt, A., Szűcs, A., Ábrahám, E., Ayaydin, F., ... & Kaló, P. (2015). Loss of the nodule-specific cysteine rich peptide, NCR169, abolishes symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the Medicago truncatula dnf7 mutant. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(49), 15232-15237 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1500777112
Wang, Q., Yang, S., Liu, J., Terecskei, K., Abraham, E., Gombar, A., ... & Zhu, H. (2017). Host-secreted antimicrobial peptide enforces symbiotic selectivity in Medicago truncatula. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 114(26), 6854-6859. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1700715114
We are also characterizing and analyzing M. truncatula mutants defective in the earlier or later stages of nodule organogenesis: how the rhizobia and the plant communicate to start the interaction and also what happens if a nodule-specific Vacuolar iron Transporter-Like (VTL) protein is not present in the nodule. Differentiation and nitrogen fixation is strictly regulated processes; any step is failed no functional nodule is formed.
https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.16735
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.709857
Our research is focusing also on the repression of the immune reaction during nodule formation.
https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13698
https://doi.org/10.3390/genes8120387
Projects
NKFI - K120300 Profit maximalization in symbiosis? Gene for gene interactions in the Medicago-Sinorhizobium partnership
Main objectives of the project was revealing 1) how the interaction between a prokaryotic and an eukaryotic organisms is fine-tuned; 2) whether these gene-for-gene like interactions are related to (the avoidance of) pathogenic responses via the identification of the bacterial and plant genes, gene variants.
NKFI - KH129547 Identification and analysis of NCR genes differentially expressed in Medicago truncatula lines
The main objective of the project is the identification of the biological relevance of the differentially activated NCR genes in the wild-type M. truncatula, namely they function redundantly or belong to the group of NCRs with unique function. In order to answer this question, the functional analysis of the differentially expressed NCRs is proposed.
