Conservation of nodulation genes between Rhizobium meliloti and a slow-growing Rhizobium strain that nodulates a nonlegume host

Parasponia, a woody member of the elm family, is the only nonlegume genus whose members are known to form an effective nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with a Rhizobium species. The bacterial strain RP501 is a slow-growing strain of Rhizobium isolated from Parasponia nodules. Strain RP501 also nodulates th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 1985-09, Vol.82 (17), p.5841-5845
Main Authors: Marvel, D.J, Kuldau, G, Hirsch, A, Richards, E, Torrey, J.G, Ausubel, F.M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alfalfa
Biological Sciences: Genetics
DNA
FORMATION DE NODOSITES
GENE
GENES
Genetic vectors
Infections
Legumes
NODULACION
Nodulation
Nodules
parasponia rigida
Plasmids
RHIZOBIUM
RHIZOBIUM MELILOTI
ROOT NODULATION
SIMBIOSIS
SYMBIOSE
SYMBIOSIS
ULMACEAE
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Summary:Parasponia, a woody member of the elm family, is the only nonlegume genus whose members are known to form an effective nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with a Rhizobium species. The bacterial strain RP501 is a slow-growing strain of Rhizobium isolated from Parasponia nodules. Strain RP501 also nodulates the legumes siratro (Macroptilium atropurpureum) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). Using a cosmid clone bank of RP501 DNA, we isolated a 13.4-kilobase (kb) EcoRI fragment that complemented insertion and point mutations in three contiguous nodulation genes (nodABC) of Rhizobium meliloti, the endosymbiont of alfalfa (Medicago sativa). The complemented R. meliloti nod mutants induced effective nitrogen-fixing nodules on alfalfa seedlings but not on siratro, cowpeas, or Parasponia. The cloned RP501 nodulation locus hybridized to DNA fragments carrying the R. meliloti nodABC genes. A 3-kb cluster of Tn5 insertion mutations on the RP501 13.4-kb EcoRI fragment prevented complementation of R. meliloti nodABC mutations.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.82.17.5841