Abstract
In addition to the more well known mechanisms that are used by plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), these organisms contain the enzyme 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) deaminase, which has no known function in bacteria, and use this enzyme to lower plant ethylene levels resulting in an increase in root length. Mutants of one PGPR strain that lack ACC deaminase activity were no longer able to promote the elongation of canola seedling roots. All bacterial isolates that are able to grow on ACC as a sole nitrogen source contain ACC deaminase and promote root elongation. The effect of ACC deaminase-containing PGPR on canola seedlings is identical to the effect of the ethylene inhibitor AVG. Treatment of canola seeds with ACC deaminase-containing PGPR results in a lowering of ACC levels in both roots and shoots. When an ACC deaminase gene was expressed in soil pseudomonads that did not contain this enzyme activity and did not stimulate canola root elongation, the transformants gained both ACC deaminase activity and canola root elongation activity. These data are explained in terms of a model in which a PGPR binds to canola seed coats and, during seed imbibition, the bacterium sequesters and then hydrolyzes ACC from the seed, thereby lowering the level of ethylene that can form during early plant development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Abeles, F.B., Morgan, P.W. and Saltveit, M.E., Jr. (1992) The biosynthesis of ethylene, in Ethylene in Plant Biology, 2nd edition, Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 26–55.
Billington, D.C., Golding, B.T. and Primrose, S.B. (1979) Biosynthesis of ethylene from methionine. Isolation of the putative intermediate 4-methylthio-2-oxobutanoate from culture fluids of bacteria and fungi, Biochem. J. 182, 827–837.
Boddey, R.M. and Dobereiner, J. (1994) Biological nitrogen fixation associated with graminaceous plants, in Y. Okon (ed.), Azospirillum Plant Associations, CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 119–135.
Dworkin, M. and Foster, J. (1958) Experiments with some microorganisms which utilize ethane and hydrogen, J. Bacteriol. 75, 592–601.
Fallik, E., Sarig, S. and Okon, Y. (1994) Morphology and physiology of plant roots associated with Azospirillum, in Y. Okon (ed.), Azospirillum Plant Associations, CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 77–85.
Glick, B.R. (1995) The enhancement of plant growth by free-living bacteria. Can. J. Microbiol. 41, 109–117.
Glick, B.R. and Bashan, Y. (1997) Genetic manipulation of plant growth-promoting bacteria to enhance biocontrol of phytopathogens, Biotechnol. Adv. 15, 353–378.
Glick, B.R., Jacobson, C.B., Schwarze, M.M.K. and Pasternak, J.J. (1994) 1-Aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid deaminase mutants of the plant growth promoting rhizobacterium Pseudomonas putida GR12-2 do not stimulate canola root elongation, Can. J. Microbiol. 40, 911–915.
Glick, B.R. Karaturovlc, D.M. and Newell, P.C. (1995) A novel procedure for rapid isolation of plant growth-promoting pseudomonads, Can. J. Microbiol. 41, 533–536.
Glick, B.R., Liu, C., Ghosh, S. and Dumbroff, E.B. (1997) Early development of canola seedlings in the presence of the plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Pseudomonas putida GR12-2, Soil Biol. Biochem. 29, 1233–1239.
Glick, B.R., Penrose, D.M. and Li, J. (1998) A model for the lowering of plant ethylene concentrations by plant growth-promoting bacteria, J. Theor. Biol. 190, 63–68.
Hall, J.A., Peirson, D., Ghosh, S. and Glick, B.R. (1996) Root elongation in various agronomic crops by the plant growth promoting rhizobacterium Pseudomonas putida GR12-2, Isr. J. Plant Sci. 44, 37–42.
Hong, Y., Glick, B.R. and Pasternak, J.J. (1991) Plant-microbial interaction under gnotobiotic conditions: A scanning electron microscope study, Curr. Microbiol. 23, 111–114.
Honma, M. (1985) Chemically reactive sulfhydryl groups of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase, Agric. Biol. Chem. 49, 567–571.
Honma, M. and Shimomura, T. (1978) Metabolism of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid, Agric. Biol. Chem. 42, 1825–1831.
Jacobson, C.B., Pasternak, J.J. and Glick, B.R. (1994) Partial purification and characterization of ACC deaminase from the plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium Pseudomonas putida GR12-2, Can. J. Microbiol. 40, 1019–1025.
Kende, H. (1993) Ethylene biosynthesis, Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 44, 283–307.
Lazarovits, G. and Nowak, J. (1997) Rhizobacteria for improvement of plant growth and establishment, HortScience 32, 188–192.
Nowak, J. (1998) Benefits of in vitro ybiotization of plant tissue cultures with microbial inoculants, In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol. 34, 122–134.
Patten, C.L. and Glick, B.R. (1996) Bacterial biosynthesis of indole-3-acetic acid, Can. J. Microbiol. 42, 207–220.
Shah, S., Li, J., Moffatt, B.A. and Glick, B.R. (1997) ACC deaminase genes from plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, in A. Ogoshi, K. Kobayashi, Y. Hemma, F. Kodema, N. Kondo and S. Akino (eds.) Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria, Present Status and Future Prospects, OECD, Paris, pp. 313–315.
Shah, S., Li, J., Moffatt, B.A. and Glick, B.R. (1998) Isolation and characterization of ACC deaminase genes from two different plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, Can. J. Microbiol., in press.
Sato, M., Urushizaki, S., Nishiyama, K., Sakai, F. and Ota, Y. (1987) Efficient production of ethylene by Psuedomonas syringae pv. glycinea which causes halo blight in soybeans, Agric. Biol. Chem. 51, 1177–1178.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Glick, B.R., Li, J., Shah, S., Penrose, D.M., Moffatt, B.A. (1999). ACC Deaminase is Central to the Functioning of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria. In: Kanellis, A.K., Chang, C., Klee, H., Bleecker, A.B., Pech, J.C., Grierson, D. (eds) Biology and Biotechnology of the Plant Hormone Ethylene II. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4453-7_54
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4453-7_54
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5910-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4453-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive