title: Complexity of phenotypes and symbiotic behaviour of Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii exopolysaccharide mutants.
abstract: Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar trifolii strain TA1 polysaccharide synthesis (pss) mutants in the pssD, pssP, pssT and pssO genes and altered in exopolysaccharide (EPS) synthesis were investigated. EPS-deficient mutants were also changed in lipopolysaccharide structure. All mutants exhibited varied sensitivities to detergents, ethanol and antibiotics, thus indicating changes in bacterial membrane integrity. Using pss mutants marked with the gusA gene, EPS-deficient mutants were found to have abnormalities in nodule development and to provoke severe plant defence reactions. The pss mutants that produced altered quantities of EPS with a changed degree of polymerisation generally occupied the younger developmental zones of the nodules and elicited moderate plant defence reactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Microbiology, M. Curie-Sklodowska University, Akademicka 19 st., Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wielbo
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazur
authors.forename: Jarosław
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Król
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marczak
authors.forename: Jolanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kutkowska
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Skorupska
mesh_terms: D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D029902:Medicago / Q000382:microbiology; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D016961:Rhizobium leguminosarum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial