Abstract
THE basis for the symbiotic specificity whereby legumes are nodulated only by rhizobia of the appropriate cross-inoculation group must reside in genetic determinants in both host and bacterium. To analyse the bacterial determinants, crosses between rhizobia of different cross-inoculation groups are necessary. We show here that the sex-factor R68.45 (ref. 1), which promotes chromosomal recombination in Rhizobium leguminosarum2 can also mediate gene transfer amongst strains of R. leguminosarum, R. trifolii and R. phaseoli. These species nodulate peas, clover and French beans respectively; thus there is the possibility of identifying bacterial genes involved in host specificity. The only previous report of interspecific conjugation in Rhizobium described the transfer of a plasmid that determined host specificity in R. trifolii and R. phaseoli3. There have also been reports of transformation of genes, including those determining specificity, between Rhizobium species4,5.
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JOHNSTON, A., BERINGER, J. Chromosomal recombination between Rhizobium species. Nature 267, 611–613 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/267611a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/267611a0
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