Comparison of the genomic arrangement and the relative transcription of the nitrogenase genes in Rhizobium meliloti during symbiotic development in alfalfa root nodules

Abstract

In the course of the symbiotic development of free-living rhizobia to mature bacteroids in alfalfa nodules, mRNA transcripts of the nitrogenase structural genes are first detected when the rhizobia are inside the infection threads. These transcripts are most abundant in the mature bacteroids of young (6 to 8 weeks) root nodules and are present in a much lower level in bacteroids from senescent root nodules (13 weeks). Translation of these and related rhizobial genes essential for the symbiotic association apparently occurs very early in the symbiosis because the protein pattern of the "infection thread rhizobia" is very similar to that of the mature bacteroids and is different from that of the cultured vegetative rhizobia. Although bacteroids have a higher DNA content than the vegetative bacteria and are very different in the nucleoid organization, no specific amplification or rearrangement of the nitrogenase genes is detected in bacteroids.