Mutation to auxotrophy and prototrophy as related to symbiotic effectiveness in Rhizobium leguminosarum and R. trifolii

Auxotrophs were isolated from four effective strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum and R. trifolii for a study of the relationship between metabolic defects and loss of ability for symbiosis. Most auxotrophs were isolated indirectly by prior isolation of mutants for resistance to metabolic inhibitors, especially D-alanine and D-histidine. The likelihood of some nutritional requirement was greatly increased among such resistant mutants, and was very high for derivatives of the R. trifolii strains. The complexity of growth factor requirement varied greatly between auxotrophs, and few had simple requirements. The most common requirement was for vitamins, notably thiamine. Partial or full restoration of effectiveness in symbiosis often accompanied reversion to prototrophy in some ineffective auxotrophs. The frequency of some degree of restoration among prototrophs varied from 0% to 100%, depending on the auxotrophic mutant involved. In one ineffective auxotroph of R. trifolii strain T1 the level of reversion (partial to complete) in vitro varied considerably and generally paralleled the degree of restoration of effectiveness. Biochemical deficiency appeared to be meaningfully related to impaired symbiosis in some auxotrophs but the relationship was probably incidental in most others. These auxotroph–prototroph studies are considered from the standpoint of relationship to several areas of research on Rhizobium.