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On the Inside Pharmacology of Calcium Spiking Induced by Nod Factors

The initial events in the establishment of the N2-fixing Rhizobiumlegume symbiosis involve reciprocal signaling between the plant and its prospective bacterial partners. Legume roots exude a variety of flavonoid compounds that activate the transcription of bacterial nod genes. The products of many nod genes direct the synthesis of a class of modified lipochitooligosaccharide signaling molecules (Nod factors). The perception of Nod factors by the prospective host elicits a range of responses in the root epidermis that includes periodic, transient increases in cytosolic Ca levels (Ca spiking). Activation of Ca spiking shows specificity for Nod factor structures produced by compatible symbiotic bacteria and is not observed in nonnodulating plant mutants. In this issue, Engstrom et al. (pp. 1390–1401) report on their screening of a variety of compounds that modulate the activity of enzymes known to be components of Ca signaling in mammalian systems for their ability to alter Nod factorinduced Ca spiking in Medicago truncatula root hairs. Their results suggest that IP3-mediated Ca 2 release is a conserved feature of Ca spiking in both mammalian and plant systems.