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Content archived on 2024-04-30

Determination of the nucleotide sequence of the 3.7 megabases chromosome of rhizobium meliloti

Objective



The prominent importance for agriculture and environment of bacteria belonging to Rhizobiaceae, a family including the genera Rhizobium and Agrobacterium, stems from their close relationships - either symbiotic or pathogenic - with higher plants - either wild or cultivated. Rhizobia induce in leguminous plants nodules in which bacteria in a differentiated form reduce atmospheric nitrogen (N2) to ammoniac that is eventually assimilated by the plant. This symbiosis is believed to account for half the nitrogen biologically fixed per annum, that is to say the equivalent of the yearly production of nitrate fertilizers by industry (80 million tons).
The present project aims at determining the nucleotide sequence of the chromosome (3.7 Mb in size) of a model Rhizobium, S. meliloti. It is included in an international project with more scope in which the two megaplasmids that are essential to the bacterium's vital processes will be sequenced by American and Canadian laboratories.
Full knowledge of the genome of this bacterium appearing as a model in both agricultural and environmental contexts will allow i) better insight into the molecular base of the bacterium's interaction with his host plant; ii) improvement of the system; iii) extension to other bacterium-plant associations of agroindustrial significance.

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Call for proposal

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Coordinator

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE
EU contribution
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Address
Avenue Président Léon Bernard 2 Faculté de Medecin
35043 Rennes
France

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Participants (5)