Frankia Strains (frankia + strain)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Analysis of nodulation kinetics in Frankia,Discaria trinervis symbiosis reveals different factors involved in the nodulation process

PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM, Issue 4 2008
Luciano Andrés Gabbarini
The induction of root nodule development in actinorhizal symbiosis would depend on the concentration of factors produced by the bacteria and the plant. A detailed analysis of nodulation description parameters revealed different factors related to the nodulation process. The initial time for nodulation (t0), the initial nodulation rate (v0) and the total time of nodule development (tNOD) were defined and consequently quantified in different experimental conditions: co-inoculation of Discaria trinervis with increasing concentrations of different non-infective bacteria together with the full compatible infective Frankia strain (the indicator strain) used at a limiting concentration or by changing plant factor(s) concentration. All the above nodulation parameters were modified by changing doses of full compatibility infective strain Frankia BCU110501; v0 appears to be an expression of symbiotic recognition between partners as only fully symbiotic indicator Frankia BCU110501 was able to change it; t0 seems not to reflect symbiotic recognition because it can also be modified by non-infective Frankia but suggest the existence of a basic level of plant microbe recognition. The initial time for nodulation t0, reflecting the time required for the early interactions toward nodulation, is an inverse measure of the ability to establish early interactions toward nodulation. The increase in plant factors concentration also reduces t0 values, suggesting that a plant factor is involved and favors very early interactions. Increases in plant factors concentration also modify the final number of nodules per plant and the nodule cluster profile along the taproot as an expression of the autoregulation phenomenon. Meanwhile, Frankia inoculums' concentration, either infective or not, modified tNOD in an opposite way plant factors did. In conclusion, the analysis of nodulation kinetics appears to be an appropriate tool to investigate factors involved in the symbiotic interaction leading to the formation of nitrogen-fixing nodules. [source]


Recent advances in the biogeography and genecology of symbiotic Frankia and its host plants

PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM, Issue 3 2007
David R. Benson
Molecular phylogenetic approaches have begun to outline the origin, distribution and diversity of actinorhizal partners. Geographic isolation of Frankia and its host plants resulting from shifting continents and dispersal patterns have apparently led to the development of Frankia genotypes with differing affinities for host genera, even within the same plant family. Actinorhizal plant genera of widespread global distribution tend to nodulate readily even outside their native ranges. These taxa may maintain infective Frankia populations of considerable diversity on a broad scale. Arid environments seem to have distinctive actinorhizal partnerships, with smaller and more specific sets of Frankia symbionts. This has led to the hypothesis that some host families have taxa that are evolving towards narrow strain specificity, perhaps because of drier habitats where fewer Frankia strains would be able to survive. Harsh conditions such as water-saturated soils near lakes, swamps or bogs that are typically acidic and low in oxygen may similarly lessen the diversity of Frankia strains present in the soil, perhaps limiting the pool of frankiae available for infection locally and, at a larger scale, for natural selection of symbiotic partnerships with host plants. Recent molecular ecological studies have also provided examples of Frankia strain sorting by soil environment within higher order cluster groupings of Frankia host specificity. Future frontiers for ecological research on Frankia and actinorhizal plants include the soil ecosystem and the genome of Frankia and its hosts. [source]


Growth of Frankia strains in leaf litter-amended soil and the rhizosphere of a nonactinorhizal plant

FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY, Issue 1 2009
Babur S. Mirza
Abstract The ability of Frankia strains to grow in the rhizosphere of a nonactinorhizal plant, Betula pendula, in surrounding bulk soil and in soil amended with leaf litter was analyzed 6 weeks after inoculation of pure cultures by in situ hybridization. Growth responses were related to taxonomic position as determined by comparative sequence analysis of nifH gene fragments and of an actinomycetes-specific insertion in Domain III of the 23S rRNA gene. Phylogenetic analyses confirmed the basic classification of Frankia strains by host infection groups, and allowed a further differentiation of Frankia clusters within the Alnus host infection group. Except for Casuarina -infective Frankia strains, all other strains of the Alnus and the Elaeagnus host infection groups displayed growth in the rhizosphere of B. pendula, and none of them grew in the surrounding bulk soil that was characterized by a very low organic matter content. Only a small number of strains that all belonged to a distinct phylogenetic cluster within the Alnus host infection group grew in soil amended with ground leaf litter from B. pendula. These results demonstrate that saprotrophic growth of frankiae is a common trait for most members of the genus, and the supporting factors for growth (i.e. carbon utilization capabilities) varied with the host infection group and the phylogenetic affiliation of the strains. [source]


Melanin biosynthesis by Frankia strain CeI5

PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM, Issue 2 2007
Wenlin Yuan
Many Frankia strains are pigmented and presumed to produce melanin. However, melanin biosynthesis has yet to be rigorously characterized in Frankia. This study was initiated to determine whether or not Frankia strain CeI5 produced melanin and to identify the biochemical pathway of pigment production. Frankia strain CeI5 first produced a dark pigment in mycelial and other tissue and then in the liquid culture medium when grown in a defined medium containing l -tyrosine. The pigment resisted solvents, lightened when subjected to the action of oxidants, as well as reductants, and produced a flocculent brown precipitate with FeCl3. Spectroscopic characteristics of the extracted pigment were those of melanin. When subjected to gradual dilution, the absorbance decreased unevenly, occurring in the near red range first, then in the visible range, and lastly in the UV range. This observation might resolve the question of why quite different descriptions of melanin UV,visible light absorption spectra exist in the literature. The tyrosinase cofactor copper greatly enhanced melanin biosynthesis at 5.3 × 10,6 M, while 1 × 10,8 M 3,4-dihydroxy- l -phenylalanine hastened pigmentation. The copper-chelating agent KCN and the tyrosinase inhibitor tropolone decreased melanin production at the same concentration of 1 × 10,5 M. This evidence suggests that Frankia strain CeI5 produces melanin via the Raper and Mason pathway. [source]


Recent advances in the biogeography and genecology of symbiotic Frankia and its host plants

PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM, Issue 3 2007
David R. Benson
Molecular phylogenetic approaches have begun to outline the origin, distribution and diversity of actinorhizal partners. Geographic isolation of Frankia and its host plants resulting from shifting continents and dispersal patterns have apparently led to the development of Frankia genotypes with differing affinities for host genera, even within the same plant family. Actinorhizal plant genera of widespread global distribution tend to nodulate readily even outside their native ranges. These taxa may maintain infective Frankia populations of considerable diversity on a broad scale. Arid environments seem to have distinctive actinorhizal partnerships, with smaller and more specific sets of Frankia symbionts. This has led to the hypothesis that some host families have taxa that are evolving towards narrow strain specificity, perhaps because of drier habitats where fewer Frankia strains would be able to survive. Harsh conditions such as water-saturated soils near lakes, swamps or bogs that are typically acidic and low in oxygen may similarly lessen the diversity of Frankia strains present in the soil, perhaps limiting the pool of frankiae available for infection locally and, at a larger scale, for natural selection of symbiotic partnerships with host plants. Recent molecular ecological studies have also provided examples of Frankia strain sorting by soil environment within higher order cluster groupings of Frankia host specificity. Future frontiers for ecological research on Frankia and actinorhizal plants include the soil ecosystem and the genome of Frankia and its hosts. [source]