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Concept
Nod factor
Summary
Nod factors (nodulation factors or NF), are signaling molecules produced by soil bacteria known as rhizobia in response to flavonoid exudation from plants under nitrogen limited conditions. Nod factors initiate the establishment of a symbiotic relationship between legumes and rhizobia by inducing nodulation. Nod factors produce the differentiation of plant tissue in root hairs into nodules where the bacteria reside and are able to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere for the plant in exchange for photosynthates and the appropriate environment for nitrogen fixation. One of the most important features provided by the plant in this symbiosis is the production of leghemoglobin, which maintains the oxygen concentration low and prevents the inhibition of nitrogenase activity.
Nod factors structurally are lipochitooligosaccharides (LCOs) that consist of an N-acetyl-D-glucosamine chain linked through β-1,4 linkage with a fatty acid of variable identity attached to a non reducing nitrogen in the backbone with various functional group substitutions at the terminal or non-terminal residues.
Nod factors are produced in complex mixtures differing in the following characteristics:
Length of the chain can vary from three to six units of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine with the exception of M. loti which can produce Nod factors with two unit only.
Presence or absence of strain-specific substitutions along the chain
Identity of the fatty acid component
Presence or absence of unsaturated fatty acids
Nod gene expression is induced by the presence of certain flavonoids in the soil, which are secreted by the plant and act as an attractant to bacteria and induce Nod factor production. Flavonoids activate NodD, a LysR family transcription factor, which binds to the nod box and initiates the transcription of the nod genes which encode the proteins necessary for the production of a wide range of LCOs.
Nod factors are potentially recognized by plant receptors made of two histidine kinases with extracellular LysM domain, which have been identified in L.
Official source
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