Open AccessDevelopment of a strain‐specific probe to follow inoculated Azospirillum lipoferum CRT1 under field conditions and enhancement of maize root development by inoculation
Author(s) -
Jacoud Colette,
Faure Denis,
Wadoux Patrick,
Bally René
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6941.1998.tb00524.x
Subject(s) - biology , microbial inoculant , inoculation , strain (injury) , horticulture , botany , microbiology and biotechnology , anatomy
In order to develop a reliable and specific tool for the detection of Azospirillum lipoferum CRT1, randomly cloned DNA fragments from this strain were used as hybridization probes to differentiate A. lipoferum CRT1 from 29 closely related Azospirillum strains. Two cloned fragments hybridizing only with DNA from A. lipoferum CRT1 (CRT1‐5 and CRT1‐7) were considered as specific probes of this strain. CRT1‐7 fragment (1.4 kb) was further tested for purity control of the inoculant Azogreen‐m by colony hybridization. The sequence of the CRT1‐7 fragment has been determined and compared with those present in databases: no significant similarity with other sequences was detected. This probe permitted us to count specifically A. lipoferum CRT1 cells on maize roots during a field trial. During the first two weeks, A. lipoferum CRT1 remained at 10 7 CFU plant −1 . Afterwards, bacterial concentration sharply decreased. We could not detect any CRT1 cells on maize roots 28 days after sowing. Concurrently, three plant parameters were estimated (plant height, primary root length and root fresh weight). The results showed that A. lipoferum CRT1 growth promotion effect began early on (from day 14) in plant development and increased in spite of a rapid decrease of bacterial density.