Abstract
A characteristic of many wild-type Rhizobium strains is their capacity to produce large quantities of exopolysaccharides (EPS) and form mucoid (Muc+ phenotype) colonies on various laboratry media. Rhizobium polysaccharides, particulary EPS and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), have been postulated to be involved in the early recognition steps between the plant and the bacteria including specific adhesion to the root hair surfaces (5) the determination of host specificity (9) and the ability to induce proper nodule development (1, 10). Tn5 transposon mutagenesis of the broad host range fast-growing Rhizobium strain NGR234 has yielded 90 EPS mutants showing altered colony morphology. These mutants were classified on the basis of their symbiotic properties on 4 host legumes (Macroptilium atropurpureum, Desmodium intortum, Desmodium uncinatum, and Lablab purpureus) which form spherical (determinant) nodules and on Leucaena leucocephala, where cyclindrical (indeterminant) nodules are induced (2).
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