Chair's comments: plant growth promotion in legumes and cereals by lumichrome, a rhizobial signal metabolite

摘要

Bacteria in the Rhizobiaceae (i.e. rhizobia) affect fundamental processes in plants through the use of powerful molecules. Some of these compounds such as the phytohormone IAA (Law, Strijdom 1989; Hirsch et al. 1997) have been known for a long time.These bacterial molecules include nodulation factors or lipochito-oligosaccharides (Lopez-Lara et al. 1995; Prome, Dermont 1996; Smith et al. this volume). Another signal compound that has been identified from the culture filtrate of Sinorhizobium meliloti is lumichrome (Phillips et al. 1999). This molecule enhances root respiration in alfalfa (Volpin, Phillips 1998) and can trigger an increase in net carbon assimilation and plant growth (Phillips et al 1999). The aim of this study was to test the effect of lumichrome on the growth of tropical grain legumes and cereals under glasshouse conditions.