Martin Krehenbrink
Germany
Research Article
Effect of Cyanophycin Metabolism in Recombinant Sinorhizobium (Ensifer)
meliloti 1021 on the Symbiosis with Alfalfa (Medicago sativa)
Author(s): Yasser Abd-El-Karem, Rudolf Reichelt, Martin Krehenbrink and Alexander Steinbüchel1Yasser Abd-El-Karem, Rudolf Reichelt, Martin Krehenbrink and Alexander Steinbüchel1
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the synthesis and degradation of the nitrogen-rich polymer cyanophycin in rhizobia on symbiotic nitrogen fixation and crop yield in legumes. For this, cyanophycin synthetase from Anabaena sp. PCC7120 was expressed in the bacteroids of the symbiont S. meliloti 1021 either alone or together with an intracellular cyanophycinase from the same bacterium, either in the wild type or in a polyhydroxybutyratenegative (PHB-) mutant, and the effect on the growth of alfalfa host plants was studied. All strains induced the formation of nitrogen-fixing nodules in the host, but clear differences in various parameters were noticeable. Alfalfa plants infected with the wild type expressing only cyanophycin synthetase showed significantly lower shoot nitrogen contents and higher nitrogen fixation rates than plants inoculated with wild type, but the .. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/1948-5948.1000312