Genes responding to Nod factors were picked up by the application of a differential display method for soybean suspension-cultured cells. Forty-five cDNA fragments derived from such genes were detected. Seven fragments (ssc1-ssc7) were successfully cloned. The putative product of genes corresponding to ssc1 was estimated to be a disease-resistance protein relating to the induction of the plant defense response against pathogens, and that corresponding to ssc7 was a sucrose transporter. Amino acid sequences deduced from full-length cDNA corresponding to ssc2 and ssc4 were investigated, and it was shown that these polypeptides were equipped with a leucine zipper motif and with phosphorylation sites that were targeted by tyrosin kinase and cAMP-dependent protein kinase, respectively. In a differential display experiment, the transcriptional levels of three genes corresponding to ssc2, ssc3 and ssc5 were estimated to be up-regulated at 6 h after initiation of the treatment and the remaining four were estimated to be down-regulated. However, transcription of the genes corresponding to all ssc was clearly repressed within 2 h after initiation of the treatment. Five of them were restored to their transcriptional level 6 h after initiation of the treatment, although the others were repressed throughout the experimental period.