Plant responses to nodulation factors.

The focus of research on signalling in Rhizobium-legume interactions has moved from understanding the structure and synthesis of rhizobially made Nod factors, towards an analysis of how they function in plants. Nod-factor-induced changes in ion fluxes across membranes, followed by establishment of an oscillation of intracellular Ca(2+) concentration, point to the involvement of a receptor-mediated signal transduction pathway. Progress towards the identification of components in this pathway is being made by identifying Nod-factor binding proteins, isolating plant mutants that are defective in signalling and analysing plant responses to Nod factors.