Application of the fluorescent antibody technique to the study of an isolate of Beijerinckia in soil

Abstract

Fluorescent antibody was prepared against a temperate-soil isolate of Beijerinckia obtained from a rhizosphere of rice growing in Camargue (France). The antibody did not cross-react with any of 6 species of Azotobacter, 4 species of Beijerinckia, or 44 unidentified soil bacteria isolated from a spectrum of rhizospheres, but strongly stained the homologous Beijerinckia isolate. The isolate grew well in autoclave Camargue soil, but increased in numbers only slightly in nonsterile soil during 9 days. Preliminary examination of rice plants grown in the laboratory in soil from which the Beijerinckia was originally isolated did not show detectable Beijerinckia in the rhizosphere. The fluorescent antibody was sufficiently sensitive and specific to permit more extensive study of Beijerinckia in relation to nitrogen fixation in the rhizospher of rice.

Evaluation of nitrogen fixation by bacteria in association with roots of tropical grasses.

“…The study of this problem requires a direct approach, whereby the organism of interest is identified in situ. Preliminary attempts at using immunofluorescence for autecological studies of asymbiotic nitrogen fixers directly in soil and rhizospheres have been promising (52,54,169,191), but more detailed and quantitative studies are needed to understand the population ecology of asymbiotic nitrogen fixers in rhizospheres (26).…”

The Immunofluorescence Approach in Microbial Ecology

“…The two reports of FA study of Beijerinckia were both concerned with a temperate-soil isolate obtained from the rhizosphere of rice (Diem et al, 1977(Diem et al, , 1978. The first of these was introductory, documenting the specificity of the FA as appropriate for detection of the antigen strain.…”