The long-term maintenance of specialized mutualisms remains an evolutionary puzzle. Recent focus has been on factors governing the stability of these mutualisms, including sanctions by the host, partner choice, and coevolutionary constraint, that is, the genetic correlation (r(G)) between fitness of both partners. So far these studies have been typically carried out in a single environment. Her...

During the course of the development of nitrogen-fixing root nodules induced by Sinorhizobium meliloti on the model plant Medicago truncatula, tubules called infection threads are cooperatively constructed to deliver the bacterial symbiont from the root surface to cells in the interior of the root and developing nodule. Three-dimensional reconstructions of infection threads inside M. truncatula...

Sinorhizobium meliloti requires exopolysaccharides in order to form a successful nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with Medicago species. Additionally, during early stages of symbiosis, S. meliloti is presented with an oxidative burst that must be overcome. Levels of production of the exopolysaccharides succinoglycan (EPS-I) and galactoglucan (EPS-II) were found to correlate positively with survival in...

We report here the first characterization of the Sinorhizobium meliloti open reading frame SMc01113. The SMc01113 protein is a member of a highly conserved protein family, universal among bacteria. We demonstrate that the SMc01113 gene is absolutely required for S. meliloti symbiosis with alfalfa and also for the protection of the bacterium from a wide range of environmental stresses.

Rhizobia are soil bacteria that are able to establish symbiotic associations with leguminous hosts. In iron-limited environments these bacteria can use iron present in heme or heme compounds (hemoglobin, leghemoglobin). Here we report the presence in Sinorhizobium meliloti of an iron-regulated outer membrane protein that is able to bind hemin but not hemoglobin. Protein assignment was done by m...

Three strains of Gram-negative bacteria capable of removing geosmin from drinking water were isolated from biologically active carbon and identified to be Chryseobacterium sp., Sinorhizobium sp. and Stenotrophomonas sp. based on physio-biochemistry analysis and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Removal efficiencies of 2 mg/L geosmin in mineral salts medium were 84.0%, 80.2% and 74.4% for Chryseo...

The structure of a polysaccharide from Sinorhizobium fredii HH103 has been determined. This polysaccharide was isolated by following the protocol for lipopolysaccharide extraction. On the basis of monosaccharide analysis, methylation analysis, fast atom bombardment MS, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization MS, electron-impact high-resolution MS, one-dimensional (1)H-NMR and (13)C-NMR and ...

We are only beginning to understand the mechanisms involved in tactic sensing in the alpha-subgroup of bacteria. It is clear, however, from recent developments that although the central chemosensory pathways are related to those identified in enteric species, the primary signals and the effect on flagellar behaviour are very different. The expression of chemoreceptors is under environmental con...

The complete nucleotide sequence of the genome of Sinorhizobium meliloti, the symbiont of alfalfa, was reported in 2001 by an international consortium of laboratories. The genome comprises a chromosome of 3.65 megabases (Mb) and two megaplasmids, pSymA and pSymB, of 1.35 Mb and 1.68 Mb, respectively. Based on the nucleotide sequence of the whole genome, we designed a pathway of consecutive rear...