Host-plant invasion by Rhizobium: the role of cell-surface components

Rhizobia are soil bacteria that can become endosymbionts, reducing atmospheric nitrogen within nodules formed on the roots of legume plants. During tissue and cell invasion, bacterial cell-surface components adapt the bacterium to survive as an endophyte without eliciting host-defence responses. The structures of many of these components have been established recently, allowing their possible roles in invasion to be defined more clearly.