Abstract
FOLLOWING the work of Löhnis1, the occurrence of heat-resistant spores in aerobic nitrogen-fixing bacteria has been the subject of some controversy. The chief protagonist in recent years has been Bisset, who claimed that endospores could be demonstrated in Rhizobium from wild leguminous plants2 and in strains of tropical origin3. Bisset4 suggested that Rhizobium and Azotobacter are aberrant sporing bacilli, related to Clostridium, which has several nitrogen-fixing species, and especially to Bacillus polymyxa, which is also capable of fixing nitrogen5. Although occasional support has been given to this concept6,7, most investigators have found neither spores nor heat resistance in these bacteria. It is notable that, apparently without exception, these studies have been made on strains of Rhizobium from cultivated temperate crop plants, and thereby serve only to confirm. Bisset7apos;s finding that few of these produce spores.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Löhnis, F., and Smith, N. R., J. Agric. Res., 23 401 (1923).
Bisset, K. A., J. Gen. Microbiol., 7, 233 (1952).
Bisset, K. A., J. Gen. Microbiol., 20, 89 (1959).
Bisset, K. A., Nature, 182, 405 (1959).
Hino, S., and Wilson, P. W., J. Bact., 75, 403 (1958).
Garbosky, A. J., and Giambiagi, N., Ann. Inst. Pasteur, 105, 202 (1963).
Rubio, M., and Tajerina, G., Microbiol. Espan., 10, 305 (1957).
Gillberg, B. O., Arch. Mikrobiol., 62, 328 (1968).
Graham, P. H., Parker, C. A., Oakley, R. T., Lange, R. T., and Sanderson, J. W., J. Bact., 86, 1353 (1963).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
GILLBERG, B. Heat Resistance and Pigmented Variants of Rhizobium. Nature 222, 574 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1038/222574a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/222574a0
This article is cited by
-
Pigmented variants of Rhizobium
Archiv f�r Mikrobiologie (1969)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.