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Attachment of Rhizobium to Legume Roots as the Basis for Specific Interactions
Author(s) -
CHEN ANNPING T.,
PHILLIPS DONALD A.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
physiologia plantarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.351
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1399-3054
pISSN - 0031-9317
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-3054.1976.tb04863.x
Subject(s) - rhizobia , rhizobium leguminosarum , biology , pisum , rhizobium , legume , root hair , fabaceae , botany , sativum , rhizobiaceae , root nodule , medicago sativa , medicago , symbiosis , bacteria , biochemistry , gene , genetics
Experiments were conducted to elucidate the basis of the observation that different strains of Rhizobium infect particular legumes. Rhizobia specific for a variety of legumes were grown with 13 PO 2− 4 and exposed to pea roots ( Pisum sativum L.), R. leguminosarum 128C53, which nodulates pea, did not attach to the roots in greater numbers than those strains of rhizobia incapable of infecting pea roots. A complex of R. leguminosarum 128C53 conjugated to a fluorochrome‐labeled antibody exhibited a striking attachment to the tips of pea root hairs, where infection normally occurs, but this fluorescent complex also bound to the root hairs of Canavalia en siformis DC., Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl., Trifolium pratense L., and Medicago sativa L., which are not infected by this bacterium. A reproducible, quantitative technique developed for studying interactions between fluorochrome‐labeled lectins and rhizobia revealed no relationship between lectin‐ Rhizobium interactions and the capacity to infect a plant. The data are interpreted as suggesting that simple attachment of Rhizobium to a legume root is not the basis of host‐symbiont specificity in this system.