Abstract
A highly coordinated activity of many bacterial and plant genes gives rise to an organ capable of housing Rhizobium and supporting the metabolic demands of symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Several host genes encoding nodule-specific proteins (nodulins) have been isolated and characterized from many legumes. Most of the early nodulin genes identified to date appear to encode structural proteins while the late nodulins mainly participate in the metabolic functions of nodules. The nodulin genes are derived from other plant genes encoding structural and metabolic proteins as they have similar functions or sequence homologies. However, the nodulin genes have come under the nodule developmental control in order to adapt to this unique organ. We have demonstrated that endocytosis release of Rhizobium is not necessary for the development of an organized nodule structure, suggesting that certain bacterial signals trigger the nodule developmental program prior to the release of bacteria inside the “infected” cells. Recent studies suggest that “physiological internalization” of the peribacteroid membrane compartment, housing the bacteria, is essential for the establishment of the symbiotic state. One of the nodulins, nodulin-26, is shown to play a critical role in this process. This nodulin forms an ion channel in the peribacteroid membrane. Symbiotically fixed nitrogen seems to be entering the host cell by diffusion, as all cells in the infection zone, delimited by the endodermis, have a uniform concentration of ammonia. The latter was determined by an ammonia-sensitive glutamine synthetase promoter linked with a reporter gene. Conversion of amides into ureides is essential in tropical legumes and several nodulins, including nodulin-35, are involved in this pathway.
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Verma, D.P.S., Miao, GH., Cheon, CI., Suzuki, H. (1991). Genesis of Root Nodules and Function of Nodulins. In: Hennecke, H., Verma, D.P.S. (eds) Advances in Molecular Genetics of Plant-Microbe Interactions Vol. 1. Current Plant Science and Biotechnology in Agriculture, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7934-6_45
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7934-6_45
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