NF-YC3: The master regulator of tomato-arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiotic symphony

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis is a mutualistic interaction between fungi from the Glomeromycotina subphylum and the roots of most terrestrial plants, including many crucial crops.In this relationship, plants supply assimilated carbon to the fungi, which in turn provide essential minerals to the plants (Choi et al., 2018).The development of AM symbiosis is a dynamic process comprising several stages: (i) presymbiotic communication, (ii) contact and penetration, (iii) outer cortex invasion, (iv) arbuscule formation, and (v) vesicle and spore formation.Although these stages occur consecutively at individual infection sites, the overall process in a root system is non-synchronous.Coordinating this complex development requires intricate and well-regulated signaling mechanisms.Transcriptomic analyses have identified