Stimulation ofBradyrhizobium japonicum by allelochemicals from green plants

Yeast extract-mannitol broth supplemented with 3 mg.ml⁻¹ extract from aerial parts of plants was noculated withB. japonicum 3I1b110. Filter-sterilized water extracts of foxtail (Setaria viridis), lambsquarters (Chenopodium album), Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) and Pennsylvania smartweed (Polygonum pensylvanicum) stimulated growth of the bacterium by 3–4 times after 48 h incubation; however, similar extracts from several other plants were marginally stimulatory. Autoclaved water extracts and methanol (75%) extracts were less stimulatory than filter-sterilized water extracts. Autoclaved water extracts of nutsedge (Cyperus esculentus) and ragweed (Ambrosia psilostachya), and methanol extracts of smartweed, peat and ragweed depressed growth of the bacterium. Filter-sterilized water extracts from shoots of foxtail and lambsquarters increased growth of the bacterium linearly up to 6 mg.ml⁻¹. At that level growth in the presence of lambsquarters shoot extract was almost 20 times that of the control. Comparable growth stimulation by this extract was also found in four other strains ofB. japonicum. The water extracts from roots and stems of lambsquarters, and roots, shoots and inflorescences of foxtail at 3 mg.ml⁻¹ stimulated growth of the bacterium by more than 40 times the control.     

Isolation and characterization of the major nod factor of Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain 532C

Bradyrhizobium japonicum 532C nodulates soybean effectively under cool Canadian spring conditions and is used in Canadian commercial inoculants. The major lipo-chitooligosaccharide (LCO), bacteria-to-plant signal was characterized by HPLC, FAB-mass spectroscopy MALDI-TOF mass spectroscopy and revealed to be LCO Nod Bj-V (C18:1, MeFuc). This LCO is produced by type I strains of B. japonicum and is therefore unlikely to account for this strains superior ability to nodulate soybean under Canadian conditions. We also found that use of yeast extract mannitol medium gave similar results to that of Bergerson minimal medium.     

The Chemotactic Response of Bradyrhizobium japonicum to Various Organic Compounds

The investigation of the chemotactic response of Bradyrhizobium japonicum to amino acids, carbohydrates, multiatomic alcohols, organic acids, and soybean extracts showed that the extracts of some soybean varieties (Chernoburaya and Beskluben'kovaya) contain repellents. This indicates that the soybeans of host plants contain effectors that may play a role at the early stages of their interaction with nodule bacteria.     

Global protein expression pattern of Bradyrhizobium japonicum bacteroids: a prelude to functional proteomics

As a prelude to using functional proteomics towards understanding the process of symbiotic nitrogen fixation between the legume soybean and the soil bacteria Bradyrhizobium japonicum, we examined the total protein expression pattern of the nodule bacteria, often referred to as bacteroids. A partial proteome map was constructed by separating the total bacteroid proteins using high-resolution 2-DE. Of the several hundred protein spots analyzed using PMF, 180 spots were tentatively identified by searching the available database for B. japonicum, (http://www.kazusa.or.jp/index.html). The data showed that the bacteroid expressed a dominant and elaborate protein network for nitrogen and carbon metabolism, which is closely dependent on the plant supplied metabolites, and seems aptly supported by a selective group of bacteroid transporter proteins. However, they seem to lack a defined fatty acid and nucleic acid metabolism. Interestingly, the proteins related to protein synthesis, scaffolding and degradation were among the most predominant spots of the bacteroid proteome. In addition, several proteins, which showed fairly good expression, were identified to be involved with cellular detoxification, stress regulation and signaling communication components. This preliminary proteomic data matches very well with several biochemical and genetic reports, and clearly shows the inter-connection between several metabolic pathways that meet the needs of the bacteroid. It is expected that in the future this will allow us to develop testable hypotheses about the roles of several of these proteins in context to the metabolic pathway connections and metabolite fluxes.     

高效液相色谱法测定必特螺旋霉素发酵液中有机酸

必特螺旋霉素是运用基因工程技术获得的工程茵产生的一组以异戊酰螺旋霉素为主要成分的多组分新型抗生素,其前体为乙酸、丙酸、丁酸和异戊酸等有机酸。本研究利用高效液相色谱法以0．01mol／L磷酸缓冲液（pH2．3）和甲醇为流动相,分别在反相C8（α-酮戊二酸、乙酸、柠檬酸、琥珀酸、丙酸）和C18（丁酸、异戊酸）柱上定量测定了必特螺旋霉素前体酸和三羧酸循环相关有机酸。所建立的测定方法的相对标准偏差为0．10％～0．42％,回收率为93．19％～102．08％。     

Particle density and protein composition of the peribacteroid membrane from soybean root nodules is affected by mutation in the microsymbiont Bradyrhizobium japonicum

Particle frequency of the peribacteroid membrane (PBM) from nodules of Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. Maple Arrow infected with Bradyrhizobium japonicum 61-A-101 (wild-type strain) was determined by freeze-fracturing to be about 2200·m^-2 in the protoplasmic fracture face and 700·m^-2 in the exoplasmic fracture face. In membranes isolated from nodules infected with the mutant RH 31-Marburg of B. japonicum, the particle frequency was similar in both fracture faces with 1200–1300 particles·m^-2. Analysis of particlesize distribution on peribacteroid membranes showed a loss, especially of particle sizes larger than 11 nm, in the mutant-infected nodules. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (isoelectric focussing and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide) showed 27 different polypeptides in the PBM from nodules infected with the wild-type strain, four of which were absent from the PBM of nodules infected with the mutant RH 31-Marburg, which also exhibited one extra small-molecular-weight polypeptide. At least 14 of the 27 polypeptides in the PBM from the wild-type-infected nodule were glycoproteins. In three of these glycoproteins, post-translational modifications were either lacking or different when the membrane was derived from mutant-infected nodules.Abbreviations EF exoplasmatic fracture face - HRPO horse radish peroxidase - IEF Isoelectric focussing - PBM peribacteroid membrane - PF protoplasmatic fracture face - PNA peanut agglutinin - PSA Pisum sativum agglutinin - SDS-PAGE Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis     

Bradyrhizobium technology: a promising substitute for chemical nitrogen fertilizer in Bangladesh agriculture

Nitrogen is the most limiting element in Bangladesh soils and urea is the fertilizer commonly used for supplying it. Bradyrhizobium/Rhizobium inoculant was tried as a source of N nutrition for grain legumes in a number of field experiments. The inoculants markedly increased nodule number, nodule mass, shoot weight and yield of the crops compared to uninoculated control and urea-N treatments. For soybean (Glycine max), inoculation increased yield 113 percent over the control and 49 percent over the urea treament. For groundnut (Arachis hypogaea), the increases were 36 and 11 percent; for lentil (Lens culinaris), 30 and 13 percent; and for mungbean (Vigna radiata), 47 and 7 percent. The local inoculant strains were suitable for dependable inoculant production. The inoculant technology can be used as a promising and cheap substitute of urea for growing food legume crops in Bangladesh.     

含吸氢酶基因（hup）嵌合质粒的构建和吸氢酶活性在阴沟肠杆菌中的表达

以质粒ｐＲＫ４０４为载体亚克隆含大豆根瘤菌吸氢酶结构基因（ｈｕｐ）的片段,构建成嵌合质粒ｐＨＲ１１、ｐＨＲ４和ｐＨＲ１０。通过三亲本杂交将这些嵌合质粒导入无吸氢活性的Ｒｈｏｄｏｂａｃｔｅｒｓｐｈａｅｒｏｉｄｅｓ２４１菌株（Ｈｕｐ－）,均获得Ｈｕｐ＋的接合子。利用启动子检测质粒ｐＭＰ２２０证明,在ｈｕｐ对结构基因上游１．２ｋｂ内存在ｈｕｐ启动基因片段。以ｐＲＫ２０１３为助质粒可将ｐＨＲ１１导入Ｅｎｔｅｒｏｂａｃｔｅｒｃｌｏａｃａｅ和Ｋｌｅｂｓｉｅｌｌａｏｘｙｔｏｃａ等土壤固氮菌株。本文以接合子Ｅ．ｃｌｏａｃａｅＥＨ１１１３为例,通过对基因组ＤＮＡＳｏｕｔｈｅｒｎ杂交分析证明,嵌合质粒ｐＨＲ１１在ＥＨ１１１３中稳定贮存和复制。Ｈ２诱导接合子ＥＨ１１１３吸氢酶活性高表达,吸氢活性与放氢活性比值约为对照的两倍。当以延胡索酸为电子受体时,吸氢酶的吸氢作用支持菌株固氮酶活性的提高。     

The influence of macrophytes on a phytoplankton community in experimental conditions

The impact of submerged macrophytes or their extracts on planktonic algae was studied under experimental conditions. Live Ceratophyllum demersum L., its extract, and extracts of four other plant species induced modifications in the phytoplankton dominance structure. These modifications were: a decline in the number of Oscillatoria limnetica Lemm., which was the most numerous cyanobacterian species, and a decline in biomass and percentage contribution of all cyanobacteria to total algal biomass. This was accompanied by an increase in biomass and percentage contribution of green algae, especially Chlorella sp. and Chlamydomonas sp. Also, there was an increase in biomass and percentage contribution of nanoplankton (under 50 µm) to total phytoplankton biomass.The isolation of planktonic algae from direct influence of C. demersum by means of dialysis membranes caused an increase in number, biomass and percentage contribution of cyanobacteria. Release of organic compounds of over 3000 daltons by macrophytes apparently contributed to a decline of cyanobacteria by changing the phytoplankton dominance structure.     

人工湿地中降解有机污染物细菌的分离筛选

采用平板划线法从人工湿地污水处理系统底泥和污水中分离出 2 3株细菌 ,在实验室条件下检测了这些细菌对灭菌污水和自然污水CODcr的去除效果 ,结果表明其中 8株细菌 (DN -4、DN -5、DN- 6、DN -10、DN -11、DN -12、DN- 13、WS- 5 )对灭菌污水和自然污水的CODcr均有较高的去除率 ,胞外酶检测表明该 8株细菌均能产生淀粉酶和接触酶 ,这些细菌具有潜在的应用价值。     

Evidence of horizontal transfer of symbiotic genes from a Bradyrhizobium japonicum inoculant strain to indigenous diazotrophs Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) fredii and Bradyrhizobium elkanii in a Brazilian Savannah soil

The importance of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in the evolution and speciation of bacteria has been emphasized; however, most studies have focused on genes clustered in pathogenesis and very few on symbiosis islands. Both soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merrill) and compatible Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Bradyrhizobium elkanii strains are exotic to Brazil and have been massively introduced in the country since the early 1960s, occupying today about 45% of the cropped land. For the past 10 years, our group has obtained several isolates showing high diversity in morphological, physiological, genetic, and symbiotic properties in relation to the putative parental inoculant strains. In this study, parental strains and putative natural variants isolated from field-grown soybean nodules were genetically characterized in relation to conserved genes (by repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR using REP and BOX A1R primers, PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism, and sequencing of the 16SrRNA genes), nodulation, and N(2)-fixation genes (PCR-RFLP and sequencing of nodY-nodA, nodC, and nifH genes). Both genetic variability due to adaptation to the stressful environmental conditions of the Brazilian Cerrados and HGT events were confirmed. One strain (S 127) was identified as an indigenous B. elkanii strain that acquired a nodC gene from the inoculant B. japonicum. Another one (CPAC 402) was identified as an indigenous Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) fredii strain that received the whole symbiotic island from the B. japonicum inoculant strain and maintained an extra copy of the original nifH gene. The results highlight the strategies that bacteria may commonly use to obtain ecological advantages, such as the acquisition of genes to establish effective symbioses with an exotic host legume.     

Evidence of Horizontal Transfer of Symbiotic Genes from a Bradyrhizobium japonicum Inoculant Strain to Indigenous Diazotrophs Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) fredii and Bradyrhizobium elkanii in a Brazilian Savannah Soil

The importance of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in the evolution and speciation of bacteria has been emphasized; however, most studies have focused on genes clustered in pathogenesis and very few on symbiosis islands. Both soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merrill) and compatible Bradyrhizobium japonicum and Bradyrhizobium elkanii strains are exotic to Brazil and have been massively introduced in the country since the early 1960s, occupying today about 45% of the cropped land. For the past 10 years, our group has obtained several isolates showing high diversity in morphological, physiological, genetic, and symbiotic properties in relation to the putative parental inoculant strains. In this study, parental strains and putative natural variants isolated from field-grown soybean nodules were genetically characterized in relation to conserved genes (by repetitive extragenic palindromic PCR using REP and BOX A1R primers, PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism, and sequencing of the 16SrRNA genes), nodulation, and N₂-fixation genes (PCR-RFLP and sequencing of nodY-nodA, nodC, and nifH genes). Both genetic variability due to adaptation to the stressful environmental conditions of the Brazilian Cerrados and HGT events were confirmed. One strain (S 127) was identified as an indigenous B. elkanii strain that acquired a nodC gene from the inoculant B. japonicum. Another one (CPAC 402) was identified as an indigenous Sinorhizobium (Ensifer) fredii strain that received the whole symbiotic island from the B. japonicum inoculant strain and maintained an extra copy of the original nifH gene. The results highlight the strategies that bacteria may commonly use to obtain ecological advantages, such as the acquisition of genes to establish effective symbioses with an exotic host legume.     

Proteomics reveals differential expression of proteins related to a variety of metabolic pathways by genistein-induced Bradyrhizobium japonicum strains

The rhizobia-legume symbiosis requires a coordinated molecular interaction between the symbionts, initiated by seed and root exudation of several compounds, mainly flavonoids, that trigger the expression of nodulation genes in the bacteria. Since the role of flavonoids seems to be broader than the induction of nodulation genes, we aimed at characterizing genistein-induced proteins of Bradyrhizobium japonicum CPAC 15 (= SEMIA 5079), used in commercial soybean inoculants in Brazil, and of two genetically related strains grown in vitro. Whole-cell proteins were extracted both from induced (1 μM genistein) and from non-induced cultures of the three strains, and separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis. Spot profiles were compared between the two conditions and selected spots were excised and identified by mass spectrometry. Forty-seven proteins were significantly induced by genistein, including several hypothetical proteins, the cytoplasmic flagellar component FliG, periplasmic ABC transporters, a protein related to biosynthesis of exopolysaccharides (ExoN), and proteins involved in redox-state maintenance. Noteworthy was the induction of the PhyR-σ^EcfG regulon, recently demonstrated to be involved in the symbiotic efficiency of, and general stress response in B. japonicum. Our results confirm that the role of flavonoids, such as genistein, can go far beyond the expression of nodulation-related proteins in B. japonicum.     

Cloning of a DNA region from Bradyrhizobium japonicum encoding pleiotropic functions in heme metabolism and respiration

Random and site-directed Tn5-induced mutagenesis of Bradyrhizobium japonicum yielded two mutations, one in strain 2960 and the other in strain 2606::Tn5-20, which mapped close to each other but in separate genes. The corresponding wild-type genes were cloned, and their approximate location on the cloned DNA was determined. Mutant 2960 was Fix^- and formed green nodules on soybean, whereas strain 2606::Tn5-20 had ca. 4% of wild-type Fix activity and formed white nodules. Cytochrome oxidase assays (Nadi tests) showed a negative reaction with both mutants, indicating a functional deficiency of cytochrome c or its terminal oxidase or both. However, the mutants grew well under aerobic conditions on minimal media with different carbon sources. Furthermore, mutant 2960 had a reduced activity in hydrogen uptake, was unable to grow anaerobically with nitrate as the terminal electron acceptor and 2960-infected soybean nodules contained little, if any, functional leghemoglobin. Southern blot analysis showed that a B. japonicum heme biosynthesis mutant [strain LO505: O'Brian MR, Kirshbom PM, Maier RJ (1987) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84: 8390–8393] had its mutation close to the Tn5 insertion site of our mutant 2606::Tn5-20. This finding, combined with the observed phenotypes, suggested that the genes affected in mutants 2960 and 2606::Tn5-20 were involved in some steps of heme biosynthesis thus explaining the pleiotropic respiratory deficiencies of the mutants. Similar to strain LO505, the mutant 2606::Tn5-20 (but not 2960) was defective in the activity of protoporphyrinogen IX oxidase which catalyzes the penultimate step in the heme biosynthesis pathway. This suggests that one of the two cloned genes may code for this enzyme.