University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Soil colonization and drought adaptation of the actinomycete Frankia

Burleigh, Stephen H.

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Description

Title
Soil colonization and drought adaptation of the actinomycete Frankia
Author(s)
Burleigh, Stephen H.
Issue Date
1994
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Dawson, Jeffrey O.
Department of Study
  • Biology, Microbiology
  • Agriculture, Forestry and Wildlife
Discipline
  • Biology, Microbiology
  • Agriculture, Forestry and Wildlife
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
  • Biology, Microbiology
  • Agriculture, Forestry and Wildlife
Language
eng
Abstract
  • A plant bioassay was used to enumerate infectious Frankia in soil and micro- and molecular techniques were used to identify possible mechanisms by which Frankia survive drying.
  • Myrica-nodulating Frankia occurred in five Hawaiian volcanic deposits with depositional ages ranging from 20 to 162 years before present. The oldest deposit had a mean estimated nodulation capacity from 450 to 1200 times greater than those of the younger deposits and had increased moisture content, increased organic matter content, and increased vegetative cover, including an abundance of actinorhizal M. faya.
  • Frankia strains grew more and had greater nodulation capacities after air-desiccation when incubated in sugar osmotica prior to drying. Incubation in 200 mM sucrose, maltose, or melibiose increased the intracellular concentration of the disaccharide trehalose. The intracellular trehalose concentration of Frankia strain HFPArl3 from Alnus rubra was positively and linearly correlated with growth after air-desiccation, suggesting that trehalose production is associated with desiccation tolerance in Frankia.
  • Anti-dehydrin polyclonal antibodies identified a 60 kD protein in three diverse strains of Frankia. The expression of this protein was independent of osmotic conditions. A wheat dehydrin cDNA weakly hybridized to Frankia genomic DNA. These results provide evidence for the widespread distribution of dehydrin-like proteins in taxonomically diverse organisms. However, there is insufficient evidence to conclude that this protein closely resembles plant dehydrins in form and function.
  • Axenically-grown Cauarina inoculated with Frankia spores became nodulated only after exposure to airborne contaminants. Casuarina was not nodulated by infectious strains of Frankia when grown under axenic conditions. Manipulation of abiotic and biotic factors did not induce axenic nodulation. Results indicate that the nodulation of Casuarina by Frankia is made possible by unknown airborne abiotic or biotic factors.
Type of Resource
text
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/23487
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1994 Burleigh, Stephen H.

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