Skip to main content

Some NLM-NCBI services and products are experiencing heavy traffic, which may affect performance and availability. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience. For assistance, please contact our Help Desk at info@ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology logoLink to Applied and Environmental Microbiology
. 1996 Aug;62(8):2767–2772. doi: 10.1128/aem.62.8.2767-2772.1996

Root colonization of maize and lettuce by bioluminescent Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar phaseoli.

R Chabot 1, H Antoun 1, J W Kloepper 1, C J Beauchamp 1
PMCID: PMC168062  PMID: 8702269

Abstract

Two strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. phaseoli and three other plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) were examined for the potential of maize and lettuce root colonization. All of these strains were selected in vitro for their phosphate-solubilizing abilities. Maize and lettuce seeds were treated with derivatives of all strains marked with lux genes for bioluminescence and resistance to kanamycin and rifampin prior to planting in nonsterile Promix and natural soil. The introduced bacterial strains were quantified on roots by dilution plating on antibiotic media together with observation of bioluminescence. Rhizobia were superior colonizers compared with other tested bacteria; rhizobial root populations averaged log 4.1 CFU/g (fresh weight) on maize roots 4 weeks after seeding and log 3.7 CFU/g (fresh weight) on lettuce roots 5 weeks after seeding. The average populations of the recovered PGPR strains were log 3.5 and log 3.0 CFU/g (fresh weight) on maize and lettuce roots, respectively. One of the three PGPR was not recovered later than the first week after seeding in Promix. Bioluminescence also permitted visualization of in situ root colonization in rhizoboxes and demonstrated the efficiency of rhizobial strains to colonize and survive on maize and lettuce roots.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (510.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Boivin R., Chalifour F. P., Dion P. Construction of a Tn5 derivative encoding bioluminescence and its introduction in Pseudomonas, Agrobacterium and Rhizobium. Mol Gen Genet. 1988 Jul;213(1):50–55. doi: 10.1007/BF00333397. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Carson K. C., Holliday S., Glenn A. R., Dilworth M. J. Siderophore and organic acid production in root nodule bacteria. Arch Microbiol. 1992;157(3):264–271. doi: 10.1007/BF00245160. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Deryło M., Skorupska A. Biological activity of rhizobial siderophore. Acta Microbiol Pol. 1991;40(3-4):265–268. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Shimshick E. J., Hebert R. R. Binding characteristics of n(2)-fixing bacteria to cereal roots. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1979 Sep;38(3):447–453. doi: 10.1128/aem.38.3.447-453.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Williams M. N., Signer E. R. Metabolism of Tryptophan and Tryptophan Analogs by Rhizobium meliloti. Plant Physiol. 1990 Apr;92(4):1009–1013. doi: 10.1104/pp.92.4.1009. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. de Weger L. A., Dunbar P., Mahafee W. F., Lugtenberg B. J., Sayler G. S. Use of Bioluminescence Markers To Detect Pseudomonas spp. in the Rhizosphere. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1991 Dec;57(12):3641–3644. doi: 10.1128/aem.57.12.3641-3644.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Applied and Environmental Microbiology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES