Lipochitooligosaccharides (LCOs) are molecules secreted by rhizobia during the establishment of rhizobia-legume N2-fixing symbiosis. Some recent reports have shown that there are physiological effects on host and non-host rhizobia after LCO treatment. However, the cellular mechanisms underlying these observations are not known. Therefore, the study was aimed at assessing phenotypic changes by measuring photosynthesis, leaf area and dry weight on a non-host plant (tobacco). Our results did not show any significant physiological changes following LCO treatment. We also wanted to explore the molecular basis of changes in the plant cell by looking at gene and protein profiling following LCO treatment in a natural host plant (soybean) using real-time RT-PCR and SDS-PAGE. To do so, a reproducible stimulation method for soybean seed germination by LCO was successfully developed. The results obtained on soybean did not reveal significant differences in gene expression between water and LCO-treated seeds for the genes cdc2, WASI, ICL1 and 14-3-3 studied. In addition, LCO treatment did not change the protein profile compared to the water control in a significant way.

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