Abstract
Rhizobia are Gram-negative bacteria normally capable of nodulating the roots of leguminous plants, and the failure of five EPS (extracellular polysaccharide)-deficient mutants to nodulate suggested that EPS is required for this nodulation. However, we report here that among a larger sample of mutants with altered EPS production, isolated from two species of Rhizobium (including one of the original set plus 34 new ones), production of EPS is not correlated with ability to nodulate appropriate hosts. Therefore, although involvement of a minor EPS component cannot be ruled out, there is no evidence that gross EPS is required for nodulation.
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Sanders, R., Raleigh, E. & Signer, E. Lack of correlation between extracellular polysaccharide and nodulation ability in Rhizobium. Nature 292, 148–149 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/292148a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/292148a0
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