Hi:
I have a few questions about Frankia infections of actinorhizal plants
which arose from conversations with a friend a while back. I am not
in the field and she didn't know if there were answers for my
questions. I am posting to this group in hope someone can at least
point me in the right directions.
My friend said that, to date, there were no reports of Frankia, which
had been isolated from the field, capable of reinfecting naive plants.
She thought that this may be the result of the need for co-infection
by other soil microbes which have not been identified. Does anyone
know of any studies in which isolated Frankia has been able to
re-infect actinorhizal plants? How about identifying other soil
microbes which occur contemporaneously with Frankia?
A second question area has to do with plant-microbe interactions.
What, if any, plant receptors are involved in Frankia infections of
plant roots? Does infection of Frankia in one root bar infection of
another root? Has anyone looked at plant signals which might be
secreted in the soil around the plant? How does Frankia get into the
plant?
A third area of questions has to do with in vitro testing of
interactions. Is it possible to work with plant callus material
rather than whole plants? Has anyone looked at chemical analysis of
plants before and after infections?
Although I am not in the field, I am curious about how microbes
interact with host cells in order for productive infections to occur.
Any help to sources of information will be appreciated. If there is a
demand for it, I will post a summary of any responses I do get.
Thanks,
Don Chen
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Sleeping we image what awake we wish,
Dogs dream of bones, fishermen of fish. - Theocritus
Impoundments are another way of saying,
"Dam the rivers, damn the fish, and goddamn you."
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