''Rhizobium lentis'' is a

gram-negative bacterium Gram-negative bacteria are bacteria that, unlike gram-positive bacteria, do not retain the crystal violet stain used in the Gram staining method of bacterial differentiation. Their defining characteristic is that their cell envelope consists of ...

which was isolated from

root nodule Root nodules are found on the roots of plants, primarily legumes, that form a symbiosis with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Under nitrogen-limiting conditions, capable plants form a symbiotic relationship with a host-specific strain of bacteria known ...

s of

lentil The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...

s in Bangladesh.

Description

''Rhizobium lentis'' are

rod-shaped Bacterial cellular morphologies are the shapes that are characteristic of various types of bacteria and often key to their identification. Their direct examination under a light microscope enables the classification of these bacteria (and archae ...

bacteria found in the soil. They require oxygen and do not form spores. ''Rhizobium lentis'' grow well on YEMA medium

agar Agar ( or ), or agar-agar, is a jelly-like substance consisting of polysaccharides obtained from the cell walls of some species of red algae, primarily from " ogonori" and " tengusa". As found in nature, agar is a mixture of two components, t ...

, where they form

colonies A colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule, which rules the territory and its indigenous peoples separated from the foreign rulers, the colonizer, and their '' metropole'' (or "mother country"). This separated rule was often or ...

which are circular, convex and creamy white. These bacteria grow at 12–37 °C but can survive at temperatures as low as 4 °C. Strains grow well at pH 5.5 to 8.2. Most of the strains studied are resistant to

ampicillin Ampicillin is an antibiotic belonging to the aminopenicillin class of the penicillin family. The drug is used to prevent and treat several bacterial infections, such as respiratory tract infections, urinary tract infections, meningitis, s ...

kanamycin Kanamycin A, often referred to simply as kanamycin, is an antibiotic used to treat severe bacterial infections and tuberculosis. It is not a first line treatment. It is used by mouth, injection into a vein, or injection into a muscle. Kanamy ...

and

nalidixic acid Nalidixic acid (tradenames Nevigramon, NegGram, Wintomylon and WIN 18,320) is the first of the synthetic quinolone antibiotics. In a technical sense, it is a naphthyridone, not a quinolone: its ring structure is a 1,8-naphthyridine nucleus that ...

. Strains do not tolerate

tetracycline Tetracycline, sold under various brand names, is an antibiotic in the tetracyclines family of medications, used to treat a number of infections, including acne, cholera, brucellosis, plague, malaria, and syphilis. It is available in oral an ...

and do not show any growth on LB medium. ''Rhizobium lentis'' can utilize α- D lactose, β-methyl-D-glucoside,

D-sorbitol Sorbitol (), less commonly known as glucitol (), is a sugar alcohol with a sweet taste which the human body metabolizes slowly. It can be obtained by reduction of glucose, which changes the converted aldehyde group (−CHO) to a primary alcohol ...

, D-mannito, D-arbitol-glycerol, D-fructose-6-phosphate,

L-aspartic acid Aspartic acid (symbol Asp or D; the ionic form is known as aspartate), is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. The L-isomer of aspartic acid is one of the 22 proteinogenic amino acids, i.e., the building blocks of protein ...

, D-gluconic acid,

mucic acid Mucic acid, C6H10O8 or HOOC-(CHOH)4-COOH (galactaric acid or meso-galactaric acid) is an aldaric acid obtained by nitric acid oxidation of galactose or galactose-containing compounds such as lactose, dulcite, quercite, and most varieties of gu ...

, D-lactic acid methyl ester, L-lactic acid,

L-histidine Histidine (symbol His or H) is an essential amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α-amino group (which is in the protonated –NH3+ form under biological conditions), a carboxylic acid group (which is in the d ...

, β-hydroxy-D, L-butyric acid, D-malic acid, L-malic acid,

acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main compone ...

and

formic acid Formic acid (), systematically named methanoic acid, is the simplest carboxylic acid. It has the chemical formula HCOOH and structure . This acid is an important intermediate in chemical synthesis and occurs naturally, most notably in some an ...

. They are unable to utilize D-maltose, D-trehalose, D-cellobiose,

gentiobiose Gentiobiose is a disaccharide composed of two units of D-glucose joined with a β(1→6) linkage. It is a white crystalline solid that is soluble in water or hot methanol. Gentiobiose is incorporated into the chemical structure of crocin, the ...

sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refined ...

, D-raffinose, α-D-glucose, D-turanose, D-melibose,

mannose Mannose is a sugar with the formula , which sometimes is abbreviated Man. It is one of the monomers of the aldohexose series of carbohydrates. It is a C-2 epimer of glucose. Mannose is important in human metabolism, especially in the glycosylatio ...

galactose Galactose (, ''wikt:galacto-, galacto-'' + ''wikt:-ose#Suffix 2, -ose'', ), sometimes abbreviated Gal, is a monosaccharide sugar that is about as sweetness, sweet as glucose, and about 65% as sweet as sucrose. It is an aldohexose and a C-4 epime ...

, 3-methyle glucose,

inosine Inosine is a nucleoside that is formed when hypoxanthine is attached to a ribose ring (also known as a ribofuranose) via a β-N9-glycosidic bond. It was discovered in 1965 in analysis of RNA transferase. Inosine is commonly found in tRNAs and is ...

, D-aspartic acid, glycyl-L-proline,

L-alanine Alanine (symbol Ala or A), or α-alanine, is an α- amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an amine group and a carboxylic acid group, both attached to the central carbon atom which also carries a methyl group si ...

L-arginine Arginine is the amino acid with the formula (H2N)(HN)CN(H)(CH2)3CH(NH2)CO2H. The molecule features a guanidino group appended to a standard amino acid framework. At physiological pH, the carboxylic acid is deprotonated (−CO2−) and both the ...

L-serine Serine (symbol Ser or S) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an α- amino group (which is in the protonated − form under biological conditions), a carboxyl group (which is in the deprotonated − ...

, pectine, D-saccharic acid, p-hydroxy-phenylacetic acid, methyl pyruvate,

citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the formula . It is a Transparency and translucency, colorless Weak acid, weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in Citrus, citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, ...

, bromo-succinic acid,

acetoacetic acid Acetoacetic acid ( IUPAC name: 3-oxobutanoic acid, also known as acetonecarboxylic acid or diacetic acid) is the organic compound with the formula CHCOCHCOOH. It is the simplest beta- keto acid, and like other members of this class, it is unstabl ...

propionic acid Propionic acid (, from the Greek language, Greek words πρῶτος : ''prōtos'', meaning "first", and πίων : ''píōn'', meaning "fat"; also known as propanoic acid) is a naturally occurring carboxylic acid with chemical formula . It is a ...

. ''R. lentis'' can grow in the presence of the antibiotic compounds

lincomycin Lincomycin is a lincosamide antibiotic that comes from the actinomycete ''Streptomyces lincolnensis''. A related compound, clindamycin, is derived from lincomycin by using thionyl chloride to replace the 7-hydroxy group with a chlorine atom with ...

, tetrazolium violet and tetrazolium blue but not with 1%

sodium lactate Sodium lactate is the sodium salt of lactic acid, and has a mild saline taste. It is produced by fermentation of a sugar source, such as maize or beets, and then, by neutralizing the resulting lactic acid to create a compound having the formul ...

troleandomycin Troleandomycin (TAO for short) is a macrolide antibiotic. It was sold in Italy (branded Triocetin) and Turkey (branded Tekmisin). It is no longer sold in Italy as of 2018. The drug's mode of action is to bind to the ribosome, specifically in the ...

lithium chloride Lithium chloride is a chemical compound with the formula Li Cl. The salt is a typical ionic compound (with certain covalent characteristics), although the small size of the Li+ ion gives rise to properties not seen for other alkali metal chlorid ...

potassium tellurite Potassium tellurite, K2TeO3, is an inorganic potassium-tellurium Tellurium is a chemical element; it has symbol Te and atomic number 52. It is a brittle, mildly toxic, rare, silver-white metalloid. Tellurium is chemically related to selenium a ...

or sodium butyrate. The

type strain The International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes (ICNP) or Prokaryotic Code, formerly the International Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria (ICNB) or Bacteriological Code (BC), governs the scientific names for Bacteria and Archaea.P. H. A. Sneath ...

of ''R. lentis'' is BLR27T (= LMG 28441T = DSMZ 29286T).

Applications

Different strains of this species can form nodules and enhance growth of lentil, peas and

lathyrus ''Lathyrus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, and contains approximately 160 species. Commonly known as peavines or vetchlings, they are native to temperate areas, with a breakdown of 52 species in Europe, 30 specie ...

Genetics

''Rhizobium lentis'' is genetically very closely related to the related species '' Rhizobium etli'' and '' Rhizobum phaseoli''. The

GC-content In molecular biology and genetics, GC-content (or guanine-cytosine content) is the percentage of nitrogenous bases in a DNA or RNA molecule that are either guanine (G) or cytosine (C). This measure indicates the proportion of G and C bases out of ...

of the type strain's DNA is 61.1%. The genome sequence is available from the

National Center for Biotechnology Information The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) is part of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is approved and funded by the government of the United States. The NCBI is lo ...

and the

European nucleotide archive The European Nucleotide Archive (ENA) is a repository providing free and unrestricted access to annotated nucleic acid sequence, DNA and RNA sequences. It also stores complementary information such as experimental procedures, details of Genome p ...

History

''Rhizobium lentis'' was first described in 2015 after being isolated from root nodules of ''

Lens culinaris The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual legume grown for its lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. Lentil seeds ...

'' in the

Natore district Natore district () is a district in Rajshahi Division located in northern Bangladesh. It borders the metropolitan city of Rajshahi and used to be a part of Rajshahi District. History Natore was the district headquarters of Rajshahi from 1769 to ...

of Bangladesh. It was named "lentis" in reference to ''Lens'', the plant genus from which the bacteria were isolated.

References

External links