Nodulation of alfalfa by exoB mutants of Rhizobium meliloti occurred without root hair curling or infection thread formation. nod exoB double mutants had the same nodulation deficiency as single nod mutants. Therefore, all the known nod genes are involved in nodule induction by exoB mutants, which apparently occurs via intercellular invasion.

Using a plate induction assay, we demonstrate that alfalfa exudes inducer of Rhizobium meliloti nodulation genes. The inducer is exuded from the infectible zone of the root, accumulates to at least 1 micromolar, and is not affected by 10 millimolar nitrate. No zones of inhibition are observed. A nodulation minus mutant line of alfalfa, MN-1008, exudes normal levels of inducer. R. meliloti grown...

Exopolysaccharides (EPS) are produced by a wide assortment of bacteria including plant pathogens and rhizobial symbionts. Rhizobium meliloti mutants defective in EPS production fail to invade alfalfa nodules. Production of EPS in R. meliloti is likely controlled at several levels. We have characterized a new gene of this regulatory circuit. syrA was identified by its ability to confer mucoid co...

The occurrence in Azospirillum brasilense of genes that code for exopolysaccharide (EPS) synthesis was investigated through complementation studies of Rhizobium meliloti Exo- mutants. These mutants are deficient in the synthesis of the major acidic EPS of Rhizobium species and form empty, non-nitrogen-fixing root nodules on alfalfa (J. A. Leigh, E. R. Signer, and G. C. Walker, Proc. Natl. Acad....

The carbon that rhizobia in root nodules receive from their host powers both N(2) fixation, which mainly benefits the host, and rhizobium reproduction. Rhizobia also store energy in the lipid poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), which may enhance rhizobium survival when they are carbon limited, either in nodules or in the soil between hosts. There can be a conflict of interest between rhizobia and leg...

The glutamyl-tRNA synthetase (gltX) gene from Pseudomonas aeruginosa was identified. A plasmid containing a 2.3-kb insert complemented the temperature-sensitive gltX mutation of Escherichia coli JP1449, and GltX activity was demonstrated. The inferred amino acid sequence of this gene showed 50.6% identity with GltX from Rhizobium meliloti.

several attributes that make it attractive as a model species. It has a short seed-to-seed generation time and abundant seed set. Extensive collections of M. truncatula ecotypes — natural geographic variants — exist, and mutant collections are readily produced by physical (fast neutron) and transposonmediated mutagenesis. M. truncatula is also host to Sinorhizobium meliloti, a rhizobium species...

Strains of Caulobacter crescentus, Pseudomonas putida, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Rhizobium meliloti, and Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides carrying the kanamycin resistance-encoding transposon Tn5 were 15 to 500 times more resistant to streptomycin than transposon-free strains. The streptomycin resistance determinant, which is separable from the kanamycin resistance determinant of Tn5, was not ex...

In this article, we provide evidence for the presence of diglyceride kinase activity in cell extracts of Rhizobium meliloti 1021. Characterization of the rhizobial enzyme revealed that it shares many properties with the diglyceride kinase of Escherichia coli. A possible role for this enzyme during cyclic beta-1,2-glucan biosynthesis is discussed.

Cohesive ends of 16-3, a temperate phage of Rhizobium meliloti 41, have been identified as 10-base-long, 3'-protruding complementary G/C-rich sequences. terS and terL encode the two subunits of 16-3 terminase. Significant homologies were detected among the terminase subunits of phage 16-3 and other phages from various ecosystems.