Summary
A method for collecting sterile mucilage from maize root tips growing in sterile conditions has been devised. Enterobacter and Azospirillum strains were isolated from the rhizosphere of maize and rice using the spermosphere model method. To evaluate chemotaxis of these strains, a modification of Adler’s microcapillary method was used. Under these conditions, the number of attracted bacteria was proportional to the concentration of mucilage. When comparing the chemotaxis of A. lipoferum and E. cloacae from the rhizosphere of maize and from the rhizosphere of rice, it appeared that the strains isolated from maize were strongly attracted by maize mucilage whereas strains isolated from rice were not more attracted than the control (E. coli K12). Thus, bacteria of the same species are not equivalent in their chemotactic behaviour. This could imply that some degree of specificity exists in the establishment of plant-bacteria associations.
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© 1986 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht
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Mandimba, G., Heulin, T., Bally, R., Guckert, A., Balandreau, J. (1986). Chemotaxis of free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria towards maize mucilage. In: Skinner, F.A., Uomala, P. (eds) Nitrogen Fixation with Non-Legumes. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4378-0_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4378-0_10
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