A previously undescribed plant-microbe interaction between a root-colonizing Streptomyces species, S. lydicus WYEC108, and the legume Pisum sativum is described. The interaction is potentially of great importance to the health and growth in nature of this nodulating legume. The root-colonizing soil actinomycete S. lydicus WYEC108 influences pea root nodulation by increasing root nodulation frequency, possibly at the level of infection by Rhizobium spp. S. lydicus also colonizes and then sporulates within the surface cell layers of the nodules. Colonization leads to an increase in the average size of the nodules that form and improves the vigor of bacteroids within the nodules by enhancing nodular assimilation of iron and possibly other soil nutrients. Bacteroid accumulation of the carbon storage polymer, poly-␤-hydroxybutyrate, is reduced in colonized nodules. Root nodules of peas taken from agricultural fields in the Palouse hills of northern Idaho were also found to be colonized by actinomycete hyphae. We hypothesize that root and nodule colonization is one of several mechanisms by which Streptomyces acts as a naturally occurring plant growth-promoting bacterium in pea and possibly other leguminous plants.Streptomyces lydicus WYEC108 is a root-colonizing actinomycete originally isolated and studied for its properties as an antifungal biocontrol agent. This strain is capable of mycoparasitic colonization of fungal root pathogens and excretion of antifungal metabolites within plant rhizospheres (16,62). Recently, we demonstrated that strain WYEC108 is also a plant growth-promoting bacterium in the absence of fungal pathogen challenge. This may be due to the ability of strain WYEC108 to produce hydroxamate-type siderophores and/or other plant growth-promoting metabolites in the rhizosphere (25). Streptomyces spp. have been previously described as rhizosphere-colonizing bacteria (37, 38), antifungal biocontrol agents useful in controlling fungal root diseases (51), in vitro siderophore producers, and in vitro producers of plant growthpromoting hormones (25). Plant root exudates stimulate rhizosphere growth of actinomycetes that are strongly antagonistic to fungal pathogens, while the actinomycetes utilize root exudates for growth and synthesis of antimicrobial substances (16,62). In addition, actinomycetes synthesize an array of biodegradative enzymes, including chitinases (9, 23, 35), glucanases (18,26,29,32,59,60), peroxidases (48), and other enzymes possibly involved in mycoparasitic activity. Yet, the overall importance, physiological activities, and symbiotic roles of actinomycetes in situ within plant rhizospheres remain little studied at the biochemical or mechanistic levels. We believe that Streptomyces are far more important rhizosphere bacteria than has been generally recognized.Important to the symbiotic relationship between plants and microbes is the acquisition of iron. Although abundant in nature, under aerobic conditions at a neutral or alkaline pH, iron is found in highly insoluble forms not readil...

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Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are important markers in disease genetics and pharmacogenomic studies. Oligodeoxyribonucleotides (ONs) modified with 5-[3-(1-pyrenecarboxamido)propynyl]-2'-deoxyuridine monomer X enable detection of SNPs at non-stringent conditions due to differential fluorescence emission of matched versus mismatched nucleic acid duplexes. Herein, the thermal denaturation and optical spectroscopic characteristics of monomer X are compared to the corresponding locked nucleic acid (LNA) and α-L-LNA monomers Y and Z. ONs modified with monomers Y or Z result in a) larger increases in fluorescence intensity upon hybridization to complementary DNA, b) formation of more brightly fluorescent duplexes due to markedly larger fluorescence emission quantum yields (Φ(F)=0.44-0.80) and pyrene extinction coefficients, and c) improved optical discrimination of SNPs in DNA targets. Optical spectroscopy studies suggest that the nucleobase moieties of monomers X-Z adopt anti and syn conformations upon hybridization with matched and mismatched targets, respectively. The polarity-sensitive 1-pyrenecarboxamido fluorophore is, thereby, either positioned in the polar major groove or in the hydrophobic duplex core close to quenching nucleobases. Calculations suggest that the bicyclic skeletons of LNA and α-L-LNA monomers Y and Z influence the glycosidic torsional angle profile leading to altered positional control and photophysical properties of the C5-fluorophore.