A METHOD FOR STUDYING CHEMOTAXIS IN NITROGEN FIXING CYANOBACTERIUM-PLANT SYMBIOSES

摘要

A modified version of the Pfeffer technique has been developed to demonstrate a strong chemotactic response of hormogonia from the filamentous nitrogen fixing Cyanobacterium Nostoc sp. towards exudates of one of its symbiotic partners, the liverwort Blasia pusilla (L.) This technique offers the potential to study this mutualistic symbiosis further, in particular at those primary stages of the interaction which have not been investigated previously. It will also enable other plants, for example wheat, to be screened for the production of chemotactic signals and thereby raise the possibility of extending the host-range of this nitrogen fixing cyanobacterium. (C) 1996 Academic Press Limited [References: 12]