The Composite Genome of the Legume Symbiont <i>Sinorhizobium meliloti</i>

Francis Galibert(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Turlough M. Finan(McMaster University), Sharon R. Long(Howard Hughes Medical Institute), Alfred Pühler(Bielefeld University), Pia Abola(Stanford Medicine), Frédéric Ampe(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Frédérique Barloy-Hubler(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Melanie J. Barnett(Stanford University), Anke Becker(Bielefeld University), P. Boistard(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Gordana Bothe(GATC Biotech (Germany)), Marc Boutry(UCLouvain), Leah Bowser(Stanford Medicine), Jens Buhrmester(Bielefeld University), Édouard Cadieu(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Delphine Capela(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Patrick Chain(McMaster University), Alison Cowie(McMaster University), Ronald W. Davis(Stanford Medicine), Stéphane Dréano(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Nancy A. Federspiel(Stanford Medicine), Robert F. Fisher(Stanford University), Stéphanie Gloux(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Thérèse Godrie(Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech), André Goffeau(UCLouvain), Brian Golding(McMaster University), Jérôme Gouzy(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Mani Gurjal(Stanford Medicine), Ismael Hernández-Lucas(McMaster University), Andrea Hong(Stanford University), Lucas Huizar(Stanford Medicine), Richard W. Hyman(Stanford Medicine), Ted Jones(Stanford Medicine), Daniel Kahn(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Michael L. Kahn(Washington State University), Sue Kalman(Stanford Medicine), David H. Keating(Howard Hughes Medical Institute), Ernö Kiss(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), C. Komp(Stanford Medicine), Valérie Lelaure(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), David Masuy(UCLouvain), Curtis Palm(Stanford Medicine), Melicent C. Peck(Stanford University), Thomas Pohl(GATC Biotech (Germany)), Daniel Portetelle(Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech), Bénédicte Purnelle(UCLouvain), U. Ramsperger(GATC Biotech (Germany)), Raymond Surzycki(Stanford Medicine), Patricia Thébault(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Micheline Vandenbol(Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech), Frank-J. Vorhölter(Bielefeld University), Stefan Weidner(Bielefeld University), Derek H. Wells(Stanford University), Kim Wong(McMaster University), Kuo‐Chen Yeh(Howard Hughes Medical Institute), Jacques Batut(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
Science
July 27, 2001
10.1126/science.1060966
Cited by 1,158

Abstract

The scarcity of usable nitrogen frequently limits plant growth. A tight metabolic association with rhizobial bacteria allows legumes to obtain nitrogen compounds by bacterial reduction of dinitrogen (N2) to ammonium (NH4+). We present here the annotated DNA sequence of the alpha-proteobacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti, the symbiont of alfalfa. The tripartite 6.7-megabase (Mb) genome comprises a 3.65-Mb chromosome, and 1.35-Mb pSymA and 1.68-Mb pSymB megaplasmids. Genome sequence analysis indicates that all three elements contribute, in varying degrees, to symbiosis and reveals how this genome may have emerged during evolution. The genome sequence will be useful in understanding the dynamics of interkingdom associations and of life in soil environments.

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