Molecular basis of symbiosis between Rhizobium and legumes

Access to mineral nitrogen often limits plant growth, and so symbiotic relationships have evolved between plants and a variety of nitrogen-fixing organisms. These associations are responsible for reducing 120 million tonnes of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia each year. In agriculture, independence f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1997-05, Vol.387 (6631), p.394-401
Main Authors: Freiberg, Christoph, Fellay, Rémy, Bairoch, Amos, Broughton, William J, Rosenthal, André, Perret, Xavier
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Bacteria
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacteriology
Base Sequence
Biological and medical sciences
Biology
Chromosome Mapping
Crop production
DNA Replication
Economic plant physiology
Fabaceae - microbiology
Fabaceae - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gene Expression
Genes
Genes, Bacterial
Genetics
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Microbiology
Molecular Sequence Data
multidisciplinary
Nitrogen
Nitrogen Fixation
Open Reading Frames
Plant growth
Plants, Medicinal
Plasmids
Rhizobium
Rhizobium - genetics
Rhizobium - physiology
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sequence Alignment
Symbiosis
Symbiosis (nodules, symbiotic nitrogen fixation, mycorrhiza...)
Transcription, Genetic
Water pollution
Water table
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Summary:Access to mineral nitrogen often limits plant growth, and so symbiotic relationships have evolved between plants and a variety of nitrogen-fixing organisms. These associations are responsible for reducing 120 million tonnes of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia each year. In agriculture, independence from nitrogenous fertilizers expands crop production and minimizes pollution ot water tables, lakes and rivers. Here we present the complete nucleotide sequence and gene complement of the plasmid from Rhizobium sp. NGR234 that endows the bacterium with the ability to associate symbolically with leguminous plants. In conjunction with transcriptional analyses, these data demonstrate the presence of new symbiotic loci and signalling mechanisms. The sequence and organization of genes involved in replication and conjugal transfer are similar to those of Agrobacterium , suggesting a recent lateral transfer of genetic information.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/387394a0