Lotus species are forage legumes with potential as pastures in low-fertility and environmentally constrained soils, owing to their high persistence and yield under those conditions. The aim of this work was the characterization of phenetic and genetic diversity of salt-tolerant bacteria able to establish efficient symbiosis with Lotus spp. A total of 180 isolates able to nodulate Lotus cornicul...

Although it is accepted that bacteria-colonizing host tissues are commonly faced with iron-limiting conditions and that pathogenic bacteria often utilize iron from host-derived haem-based compounds, the mechanisms of iron acquisition by beneficial symbiotic bacteria are less clear. The bacterium Vibrio fischeri mutualistically colonizes the light organ of the squid Euprymna scolopes. Genome seq...

Despite a recent burst of research, knowledge on c-di-GMP signaling pathways remains largely fragmentary and molecular mechanisms of regulation and even c-di-GMP targets are yet unknown for most bacteria. Besides genomics or bioinformatics, accompanying alternative approaches are necessary to reveal c-di-GMP regulation in bacteria with complex lifestyles. We have approached this study by artifi...

Aphids, which feed solely on plant phloem sap, have developed symbiotic associations with bacteria that provide themwith the amino acids that are lacking in phloem. Three soybean aphid (Aphis glycinesMat samura) populations were screened for the presence of Buchnera aphidicola and three common species of secondary aphid symbionts (Serratia symbiotica, Hamiltonella defensa, and Regiella insectic...

Legumes have an intrinsic capacity to accommodate both symbiotic and endophytic bacteria within root nodules. For the symbionts, a complex genetic mechanism that allows mutual recognition and plant infection has emerged from genetic studies under axenic conditions. In contrast, little is known about the mechanisms controlling the endophytic infection. Here we investigate the contribution of bot...

There’s a surprisingly fine line between bacterial symbiosis and chronic infection. While one is beneficial and the other detrimental, recent findings suggest that they share mechanisms for sidestepping host defenses. Plants in the pea family (legumes) have symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria living in root nodule compartments that also contain antimicrobial compounds. For example, the nitrogenf...

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin which is known to occur in numerous taxa, including newts. The origin of TTX is unknown, but production by symbiotic bacteria is suspected for some groups. Using PCR primers that specifically amplify 16S rRNA genes of bacteria, we examined tissues from rough-skin newts, Taricha granulosa, for the presence of bacteria which may produce TTX. No amplificat...

The study of associations between symbiotic bacterial communities of hosts and those of surrounding environments would help to understand how bacterial assemblages are acquired, and how they are transmitted from one to another location (i.e. symbiotic bacteria acquisition by hosts). Hoopoes (Upupa epops) smear their eggshells with uropygial secretion (oily secretion produced in their uropygial ...

Symbionts are widespread among eukaryotes and their impacts on the ecology and evolution of their hosts are meaningful. Most insects harbour obligate and facultative symbiotic bacteria that can influence their phenotype. In the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum, an astounding symbiotic-mediated phenotype has been recently observed: when infected with the symbiotic bacteria Rickettsiella viridis, yo...

Most legume species establish a symbiotic association with soil bacteria. The plant accommodates the differentiated rhizobia in specialized organs, the root nodules. In this environment, the microsymbiont reduces atmospheric nitrogen (N) making it available for plant metabolism. Symbiotic N-fixation is driven by the respiration of the host photosynthates and thus constitutes an additional carbo...