Rhizobia

J Allan Downie, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK

Published online: July 2007

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0020120

Rhizobia are soil bacteria that enter into a symbiosis with leguminous plants, producing root outgrowths (nodules) within which the bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, that is made available to the plants. Legume nodules develop as a result of signal exchange between the symbiotic partners and the rhizobia infect the nodules via specialized infection threads. The bacteria are released into plant cells within the nodule and develop into a specialized form which is primarily dedicated to the production of ammonia via the action of an enzyme called nitrogenase.

Keywords: nitrogen fixation; nodules; legume; nitrogenase

Figure 1. (a) The ancient Chinese pictographic character ‘shu’ representing soybean. The symbol on the left is thought to represent a plant with a branched shoot and a root with three tear-drop lines thought to represent nodules. (b) Photographs of determinate Phaseolus vulgaris bean root nodules (upper image) and indeterminate pea root nodules (lower image).
Figure 2. Structure of a Nod factor made by Sinorhizobium meliloti, showing four 1–4-linked N-acetyl glucosamine residues carrying the C16:2 acyl chain, acetate and sulfate substituents that determine host-specific nodulation characteristics.
Figure 3. Light micrograph of a section of a nodule stained to show an infection thread infecting a young developing root nodule on vetch.
Figure 4. Electron microscope image of a thin section of three adjacent cells within a pea nodule, one showing a transverse section of an infection thread (bottom right). Each plant cell contains many symbiosomes consisting of differentiated rhizobia (bacteroids), each surrounded by a plant-made peribacteroid membrane.
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 References
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 Further Reading
    Broughton WJ, Jabbouri S and Perret X (2000) Keys to symbiotic harmony. Journal of Bacteriology 182: 5641–5652.
    Diaz CL, Melchers LS, Hooykaas PJJ, Lugtenberg BJJ and Kijne JW (1989) Root lectin as a determinant of host-plant specificity in the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis. Nature 338: 579–581.
    book Downie JA (1998) "Functions of rhizobial nodulation genes".In: Kondorosi A, Spaink HP and Hooykaus PJJ (eds) The Rhizobiaceae, pp. 387–402. The Netherlands: Kluwer
    Fraysse N, Couderc F and Poinsot V (2003) Surface polysaccharide involvement in establishing the rhizobium–legume symbiosis. European Journal of Biochemistry 270: 1365–1380.
    Galibert F, Finan TM, Long SR et al. (2001) The composite genome of the legume symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti. Science 293: 668–672.
    Gonzalez V, Santamaria RI, Bustos P et al. (2006) The partitioned Rhizobium etli genome: genetic and metabolic redundancy in seven interacting replicons. Proceedigns of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 103: 3834–3839.
    Hymowitz T (1970) Domestication of soybean. Economic Botany 24: 408.
    Kaneko T, Nakamura Y, Sato S et al. (2000) Complete genome structure of the nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacterium Mesorhizobium loti. DNA Research 7: 331–338.
    Kaneko T, Nakamura Y, Sato S et al. (2002) Complete genomic sequence of nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacterium Bradyrhizobiumjaponicum USDA110. DNA Research 9: 189–197.
    Perret X, Staehelin C and Broughton WJ (2000) Molecular basis of symbiotic promiscuity. Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews 64: 180.
    book Spaink HP, Kondorosi A and Hooykaas PJJ (1998) The Rhizobiaceae. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
    book Sprent JI (2001) Nodulation in Legumes. London: Cromwell Press Ltd.
    other Young JPW, Crossman LC, Johnston AWB et al. (2006) The genome of Rhizobium leguminosarum has recognizable core and accessory components. Genome Biology 7.

Related Sub-Topics:

Physiological Ecology | Mutualism and Symbiosis | Bacteria | Genomes and Chromosomes | Microbial Interactions and Communities | Microbial Evolution and Taxonomy | Plant Ecology | Plant Nutrition | Roots and Root Systems | Plant Development
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Article Title: Rhizobia
 
How to Cite close
Allan Downie, J(Jul 2007) Rhizobia. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0020120]