Immunological dissection of the plant-microbe interface in pea nodules

Abstract

The development of the nitrogen-fixing legume root nodule involves many forms of cell-to-cell contacts and interactions in the pathway of differentiation. Contacts between one plant cell surface and another lead to the differentiation of a variety of different cell types from the same nodule meristem. Contacts between plant and rhizobial cell surfaces guide rhizobia through the infection thread structures that penetrate plant cells. Finally, contact between the bacterial cell surface and the plant cell plasma membrane lead to endocytosis of bacteria and their development within the cytoplasm into endosymbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteroids enclosed by a plant-derived peribacteroid membrane.