Abstract
The gene-for-gene hypothesis of plant-pathogen interaction as proposed by H.H. Flor states that for each resistance gene in the host there is a specific, complementary gene conditioning pathogenicity in the parasite. Numerous examples of this type of plant-pathogen interaction have been elucidated in the past 40 years. This model of plant-microbe interaction also provides a simple framework in which to view symbiotic plant-microbe interactions. We have identified 10 instances in the literature in which interaction between plants in the family Leguminosae and bacterial symbionts in the genera Rhizobium or Bradyrhizobium appear to function in a gene-for-gene fashion. In addition, we describe two further instances of apparent gene-for-gene interaction in the soybean-B. japonicum symbiosis. These last examples were identified in our laboratory as a result of an intensive search for soybean germplasm that would restrict or resist nodulation by highly competitive, but relatively poor nitrogen fixing strains of B. japonicum that are indigenous to soybean production areas of the U.S.A. The practical goal of this work is firstly, the development of a soybean genotype with genetic factors conferring ‘resistance’ to a broad spectrum of ineffective indigenous bradyrhizobia and secondly, the construction of a highly effective inoculant strain possessing the complementary genes necessary to optimally nodulate such a soybean genotype. This dual approach to develop both partners in the legume-rhizobial symbiosis represents a new application of the gene-for-gene system.
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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Cregan, P.B., Sadowsky, M.J., Keyser, H.H. (1991). Gene-for-gene interaction in the legume-Rhizobium symbiosis. In: Keister, D.L., Cregan, P.B. (eds) The Rhizosphere and Plant Growth. Beltsville Symposia in Agricultural Research, vol 14. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3336-4_32
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3336-4_32
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