Abstract
WHEN a legume root is infected by the nodule organism, the formation of the young nodule is brought about by the multiplication and growth in size of the root-cells, principally in the cortex. In lucerne and clover, the bacteria are at first enclosed in infection threads, and it can be seen in young nodules that the stimulation to growth and division of the host cells extends beyond the cells actually entered by the bacteria. Stimulation must be due, therefore, to diffusible secretions of the bacteria. Nevertheless, scarcely any evidence appears in published work to show that the separated secretions of nodule bacteria can stimulate cell growth of the host plant. We have now obtained quantitative evidence of such stimulation in a study of the action of the bacterial secretions upon root-hair growth.
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References
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THORNTON, H., NICOL, H. Stimulation of Root-Hair Growth in Legumes by Sterile Secretions of Nodule Bacteria. Nature 137, 494–495 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137494b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137494b0
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