Possible Involvement of a Megaplasmid in Nodulation of Soybeans by Fast-Growing Rhizobia from China

Abstract

Several isolates from a newly described group of fast-growing acid-producing soybean rhizobia, Rhizobium japonicum , were analyzed for plasmid content. All contained from one to four plasmids with molecular weights of 100 × 10 6 or larger. Although most of the isolates shared plasmids of similar size, the restriction endonuclease ( Bam HI, Eco RI, and Hin dIII) patterns of the plasmids from three of the isolates were vastly different. Growth in the presence of acridine orange was effective in producing mutants cured of the largest plasmid in one of the strains. These mutants also lost the ability to form nodules on soybeans. High-temperature curing of a smaller plasmid in another strain did not lead to loss of nodulating ability or alteration of symbiotic effectiveness on soybean cultivars. The identities of all of the isolates and mutants were ascertained by immunofluoresence and immunodiffusion. The new fast-growing strains of R. japonicum may provide a better genetic system for the study of the soybean symbiosis than the slow-growing R. japonicum , not all of which can be shown to contain plasmids.