The establishment of the nitrogen-fixing symbiosis between rhizobia and leg
umes requires an exchange of signals between the two partners. In response
to flavonoids excreted by the host plant, rhizobia synthesize Nod factors (
NFs) which elicit, at very low concentrations and in a specific manner, var
ious symbiotic responses on the roots of the legume hosts. NFs from several
rhizobial species have been characterized. They all are lipo-chitooligosac
charides, consisting of a backbone of generally four or five glucosamine re
sidues N-acylated at the non-reducing end, and carrying various O-substitue
nts. The N-acyl chain and the other substituents are important determinants
of the rhizobial host specificity. A number of nodulation genes which spec
ify the synthesis of NFs have been identified. All rhizobia, in spite of th
eir diversity, possess conserved nodABC genes responsible for the synthesis
of the N-acylated oligosaccharide core of NFs, which suggests that these g
enes are of a monophyletic origin. Other genes, the host specific nod genes
, specify the substitutions of NFs. The central role of NFs and nod genes i
n the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis suggests that these factors could be used
as molecular markers to study the evolution of this symbiosis.
We have studied a number of NFs which are N-acylated by alpha,beta -unsatur
ated fatty acids. We found that the ability to synthesize such NFs does not
correlate with taxonomic position of the rhizobia. However, all rhizobia t
hat produce NFs such nodulate plants belonging to related tribes of legumes
, the Trifolieae, Vicieae, and Galegeae, all of them being members of the s
o-called galegoid group. This suggests that the ability to recognize the NF
s with alpha,beta -unsaturated fatty acids is limited to this group of legu
mes, and thus might have appeared only once in the course of legume evoluti
on, in the galegoid phylum.