Study of lanthanides-dependent methylotrophic growth of microbe-plant symbiosis in phyllosphere and rhizosphere.

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26660074
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Applied microbiology
• Research Institution: Okayama University of Science
• Principal Investigator: Mitsui Ryoji 岡山理科大学, 理学部, 教授 (60319936)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): TANAKA Mitsuo 岡山理科大学, 理学部, 教授 (40026571)
• Research Collaborator: NAKAGAWA Tomoyuki 岐阜大学, 応用生命科学部, 教授 (70318179) ; TANI Akio 岡山大学, 資源植物科学研究所, 准教授 (00335621) ; MINAMISAWA Kiwamu 東北大学, 生命科学研究科, 教授 (70167667)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: methylotroph / methanol / plant symbiosis / lanthanides / carbon dioxide

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study, which focused on the large quantity of methanol produced by the demethylation of plant pectin present in the primary cell wall, showed that methanol is emitted as one of the plant root exudates. This methanol may contribute to the formation of specialized microbial communities in the phyllosphere and rhizosphere. Methylotrophic bacterium Methylobacterium spp, which were detected at high frequencies on leaves , and nodule formation and nitrogen fixation bacterium, Bradyrhizobium spp., possess lantanoides-dependent methanol dehydrogenase. The results in this study suggested that lantanide-dependent methanol dehydrogenase contributed not only to methylotorophic growth but to recognition of habitant environment for microbe-plant symbiosis.

Free Research Field

応用微生物学