We developed a rapid, inexpensive method for isolating and identifying Rhizobium leguminosarum by. phaseoli strains from bean root nodules. The method can be used for other small or medium-sized nodules such as those of clover, alfalfa and peas. With this method, one person can process 115 nodules/h. Using a simple apparatus made of plexiglass and machine bolts, we simultaneously crushed 24 sur...

Rhizobium etli is a Gram-negative soil-dwelling alphaproteobacterium that carries out symbiotic biological nitrogen fixation in close association with legume hosts. R. etli strains exhibit high sequence divergence and are geographically structured, with a potentially dramatic influence on the outcome of symbiosis. Here, we present the genome sequence of R. etli CNPAF512, a Brazilian isolate fro...

Several mechanisms are expected to rapidly rid mutualisms of genetic variation in partner quality. Variation for mutualist quality, however, appears to be widespread. We used a model legume-rhizobium mutualism to test for evidence that context-dependent selection may maintain variation in partner quality. In a greenhouse experiment using 10 natural populations of Medicago truncatula and two str...

Research in the field of Rhizobium-legume symbiosis faces a new challenge: integrate the wealth of information generated by genomic projects. The goal: apprehend the complexity of the molecular mechanisms involved in symbiotic associations. At the time of writing, the genomes of three micro-symbionts (Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Mesorhizobium loti and Sinorhizobium meliloti) have been sequenced, ...

B ernhard Epping, A lexander P. H ansen, Bahm an Djalali and Peter M artin Institut für Pflanzenernährung (330), Universität Hohenheim, Fruwirthstraße 20, D-70593 Stuttgart, Bundesrepublik Deutschland Z. Naturforsch. 49c, 343-351 (1994); received February 4, 1994 Phaseolus vulgaris L., Plant x Bacterium Interaction, Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. phaseoli, Rhizobium tropici, Symbiotic Effectivity ...

Symbiosis between leguminous plants and soil bacteria, commonly referred to as rhizobia, is of considerable economic importance, in low input sustainable agriculture, agroforestry and land reclamation, besides being eco-friendly. In the era of development and commercialization of bioinoculant technology for sustainable agriculture development, rhizobial inoculants have been targetted as potenti...

Concatenated sequence analysis with 16S rRNA, rpoB and fusA genes identified a bacterial strain (IRBG74) isolated from root nodules of the aquatic legume Sesbania cannabina as a close relative of the plant pathogen Rhizobium radiobacter (syn. Agrobacterium tumefaciens). However, DNA:DNA hybridization with R. radiobacter, R. rubi, R. vitis and R. huautlense gave only 44%, 5%, 8% and 8% similarit...

Non-nodulating Agrobacterium-like strains identified among root nodule isolates of common bean were labeled with gusA, a reporter gene encoding beta-glucuronidase (GUS). Bean plants were then co-inoculated with an infective Rhizobium strain and labeled transconjugants of Agrobacterium-like strains. Blue staining of nodules showed that Agrobacterium-like strains were able to colonize these symbi...

The prominent feature of rhizobia is their molecular dialogue with plant hosts. Such interaction is enabled by the presence of a series of symbiotic genes encoding for the synthesis and export of signals triggering organogenetic and physiological responses in the plant. The genome of the Rhizobium sullae type strain IS123T nodulating the legume Hedysarum coronarium, was sequenced and resulted i...

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) can establish symbiotic associations with several Rhizobium species; however, the effectiveness of most strains at fixing nitrogen under field conditions is very low. PRF 81(T) is a very effective strain, usually referred to as Rhizobium tropici and used successfully in thousands of doses of commercial inoculants for the common bean crop in Brazil; it has sho...