Liu, Jieyu https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5607-7291
Yan, Siqi https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6517-5046
Li, Min
Shen, Defeng https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6530-8837
Tichá, Michaela https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8021-8082
Bærentsen, René
Andersen, Kasper Røjkjær https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4415-8067
Verbeek, Floris
Kulikova, Olga
Geurts, Rene https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6443-2289
Bisseling, Ton https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5494-8786
Huisman, Rik
Funding for this research was provided by:
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (VI.Veni.212.132)
China Scholarship Council (201506300062)
China Scholarship Council (201906170085)
China Scholarship Council (202008150090)
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (INV- 57461)
Article History
Received: 1 October 2025
Accepted: 19 March 2026
First Online: 6 April 2026
Competing interests
: The use of chimeric proteins and amino acid substitutions reported in this manuscript to increase symbiotic functionality of nonsymbiotic NIN orthologs is considered for patent application. 63/863,186 (New U.S. Provisional Application based on U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/677,618). Patent filed on 13-08-2025. Applicant: Wageningen Universiteit. Inventors; Jieyu Liu, Siqi Yan, Min Li, Rik Huisman, Ton Bisseling, and Rene Geurts. The other authors declare no competing interests.