In Silico Approach in Tracing Persistence and Survival of Rhizobium in Soil

Abstract

Efforts to unravel the survival mechanism of Rhizobium in soil by successful nodulation of legume roots and corresponding enhancement of their N₂ fixing ability in soil have been initiated as early as 1950s. Although such studies were at its infancy for over three decades, most of the works were confined to in vitro studies carried out in simulations mimicking field conditions. Ongoing researches since the 1980s have been concentrating on an array of minute and intense parameters like soil texture, moisture, temperature antibiotic sensitivity, particulate size of soil aggregates and adverse conditions of flooding and drought, respectively, exploring the prospects of soil amendments with inert fillers. Nowadays with the ever-increasing demand for food production and ensuring food security to the exploding global population, rhizobia are being introduced more in soil milieu in association with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, plant growth-promoting Rhizobacteria to improve crop growth and yield. To counteract inhibitory effects of antagonistic microbes in soil, plant roots are being infected with rhizobial inoculants in pyrolyzed biomass carriers. This chapter focuses on molecular tools to gain insight into the mechanism of overcoming heat stress and desiccation by expression of heat shock proteins and blue light sensitivity on nodulation that has added new dimensions to this area of research.