title: Nod factor enhances calcium uptake by soybean.
abstract: Inoculation with rhizobia or application of Nod factors (lipo-chitooligosaccharides, LCOs) causes transient increases in cytosolic calcium concentration in root hairs of legume plants. We conducted experiments to evaluate whether application of LCO and inoculation with rhizobia improved (45)CaCl(2) uptake into soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.) leaves. Roots of soybean seedlings with one developing trifoliolate were immersed in Murashige and Skoog (MS) basal liquid medium containing treatment solutions and (45)CaCl(2), and the plants were incubated under continuous light. After 24 h, leaf samples were taken, and their radioactivity levels were determined. Addition of NodBj-V (C18:1 MeFuc) at a concentration of 10(-7) M increased (45)Ca(2+) uptake. Inoculation with genistein-induced Bradyrhizobium japonicum strain 532C and USDA3 also increased (45)Ca(2+) uptake; whereas, inoculation with strain Bj-168, a nodC-mutant incapable of producing LCO, did not. Rhizobia that do not normally nodulate soybean, i.e. Rhizobium leguminosarum, and Sinorhizobium meliloti did not affect calcium uptake, nor did the tetramer or pentamer of chitosan, or lumichrome. Surprisingly, Rhizobium sp. NGR234, which can nodulate some types of soybean, although without effective N(2)-fixation, also did not affect calcium uptake. This work suggests that the rhizobial symbiosis, in addition to its known role in provision of nitrogen fixation, also improves early calcium uptake into soybean plants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Science, McGill University, Macdonald Campus, Sainte Anne de Bellevue, Que, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Supanjani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Habib
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mabood
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D020561:Alphaproteobacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D017136:Ion Transport / Q000187:drug effects; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009154:Mutation; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation / Q000187:drug effects; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000382:microbiology; D013025:Glycine max / Q000378:metabolism*; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; C091899:Nod factor V, Bradyrhizobium japonicum; D002118:Calcium