Root colonization by symplasmata-forming Enterobacter agglomerans

Abstract Enterobacter agglomerans strains are able to form cell aggregates called symplasmata when grown in a liquid medium. The nitrogen-fixing E. agglomerans strain NO30, isolated from the rhizosphere soil of rice, was inoculated onto roots of axenically grown wheat and rice seedlings and could colonize the roots of both plants. The ability of NO30 cells to colonize the plant roots seemed comparable in the host and non-host plants, as far as colony forming units (cfu) measurements were concerned. Nevertheless, electron microscopy (SEM, TEM) revealed that, in the case of rice, the normal host plant for NO30, the colonization was characterized by the formation of symplasmata, whereas only individual cells were found on wheat roots. Symplasmata formation seems to be specific for colonization of the host plant, rice. This finding also means that colonization of the host plant may be largely underestimated when measured by conventional techniques. Symplasmata formed in liquid medium or on the roots of rice were stained using Thiery's and Swift's technique, and the presence of polysaccharides and proteins was revealed in the extracellular matrix as well as in fibrils anchoring symplasmata to other symplasmata or to plant cells.