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Potential and pitfalls of trying to extend symbiotic interactions of nitrogen-fixing organisms to presently non-nodulated plants, such as rice

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Abstract

It has been a long-standing goal in the field of biological nitrogen fixation to extend nitrogen-fixing symbioses to presently non-nodulated cereal plants, such as rice. A number of researchers have recently described the induction of “nodule-like” structures on the roots of cereals primarily by rhizobia, in either the presence or absence of plant cell-wall-degrading enzymes or plant hormones. We briefly review this research and discuss the potential problems associated with the introduction of nitrogen-fixing microbes in novel physiological environments, such as rice roots. The results of experiments carried out in China on the induction of “nodule-like” structures on rice roots by rhizobia are highlighted. In addition, we present preliminary results of a series of experiments designed to repeat and evaluate these results using a variety of microscopic techniques and molecular genetic approaches.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, 48824, E. Lansing, MI, USA

    F. J. de Bruijn & Y. Jing

  2. Department of Microbiology, Michigan State University, 48824, E. Lansing, MI, USA

    F. B. Dazzo

  3. NSF Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, 48824, E. Lansing, MI, USA

    F. J. de Bruijn & F. B. Dazzo

  4. Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Y. Jing

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  1. F. J. de Bruijn
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  2. Y. Jing
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  3. F. B. Dazzo
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de Bruijn, F.J., Jing, Y. & Dazzo, F.B. Potential and pitfalls of trying to extend symbiotic interactions of nitrogen-fixing organisms to presently non-nodulated plants, such as rice. Plant Soil 174, 225–240 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00032249

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