Biopolym. Cell. 1992; 8(5):44-48.
http://dx.doi.org/10.7124/bc.000339
Gene-Engineering Biotechnology
Anabaena thermalis: a nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium associated with rice
1Nguyen V. H., 2Alexeyev M. F., 2Kozyrovska N. O., 2Kordyum V. A., 1Elhai J.
  1. Institute of Experimental Biology
    Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
  2. Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, NAS of Ukraine
    150, Akademika Zabolotnoho Str., Kyiv, Ukraine, 03680
  3. Michigan State University
    USA

Abstract

The nitrogen-fixing filamentous cyanobacterium A. thermalis SpA was isolated from the-surface of wild rice growing in Viet Nam. Electron microscopy shows that the purified strain is able to penetrate into the root interior of surface sterilized rice plants. Attempts have been initiated to genetically manipulate A. thermalis SpA in order to understand whether nitrogen fixation and adherence are critical factors underlying the reported ability of the strain to enhance rice yields. As a first step, we have shown that A. thermalis SpA does not possess a DNA restriction-modification system that might limit the introduction of foreign DNA into the strain.
Full text: (PDF, in English)

References

[1] Roger PA, Kulasooriya SA. Blue-green Algae and Rice. Los Banos: Publ. Int. Rice Res. Inst., 1980. 180 p.
[2] Shi D-J, Hall DO. TheAzolla-Anabaena association: Historical perspective, symbiosis and energy metabolism. Bot Rev. 1988;54(4):353–86.
[3] Roger P, Watanabe I. 3. Technologies for utilizing biological nitrogen fixation in wetland rice: Potentialities, current usage, and limiting factors. Fertilizer Res. 1986;9(1-2):39–77.
[4] De PK. The role of blue-green algae in nitrogen fixation in rice-fields. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 1939;127(846):121–39.
[5] Rother JA, Whitton BA. Nitrogenase activity of blue-green algae on seasonally flooded soils in Bangladesh. Plant Soil. 1989;113(1):47–52.
[6] Nguyen Thi Kuy. Morphological and physiological particularity of blue-green alga Hapolosiphon fontinalis and the possibility of its application in increase of crop of some agricultural plants. PhD thess. Kiev, 1987: 19 p.
[7] Kulasooriya SA, Roger PA, Barraquio W. LWatanabe I. Epipihytic nitrogen fixation on weeds in a rice field ecosystem.In: Nitrogen cycling in south-east Asian wet monsoonal ecosystems. Ed. R. Wetselaar. Canberra : Austr. Acad. Sci. 1981: 56-61.
[8] Nguyen Van Hoa. Blue-green algae from the south of Viet Nam and their usage in agriculture. Abstr . PhD thesis. Kiev, 1990: 21 p.
[9] Reddy PM, Roger PA. Dynamics of algal populations and acetylene-reducing activity in five rice soils inoculated with blue-green algae. Biol Fert Soils. 1988;6(1):14-21.
[10] Grant IF, Roger PA, Watanabe I. Effect of grazer regulation and algal inoculation on photodependent nitrogen fixation in a wetland rice field. Biol Fert Soils. 1985;1(2): 61-72.
[11] Wolk CP, Vonshak A, Kehoe P, Elhai J. Construction of shuttle vectors capable of conjugative transfer from Escherichia coli to nitrogen-fixing filamentous cyanobacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984;81(5):1561-5.
[12] Arber W, Linn S. DNA modification and restriction. Annu Rev Biochem. 1969;38:467-500.