Rhizobium lipopolysaccharide modulates infection thread development in white clover root hairs

The interaction between Rhizobium lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and white clover roots was examined. The Limulus lysate assay indicated that Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii (hereafter called R. trifolii) released LPS into the external root environment of slide cultures. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy showed that purified LPS from R. trifolii 0403 bound rapidly to root hair tips and infiltrated across the root hair wall. Infection thread formation in root hairs was promoted by preinoculation treatment of roots with R. trifolii LPS at a low dose (up to 5 micrograms per plant) but inhibited at a higher dose. This biological activity of LPS was restricted to the region of the root present at the time of exposure to LPS, higher with LPS from cells in the early stationary phase than in the mid-exponential phase, incubation time dependent, incapable of reversing inhibition of infection by NO3(-) or NH4(+), and conserved among serologically distinct LPSs from several wild-type R. trifolii strains (0403, 2S-2, and ANU843). In contrast, infections were not increased by preinoculation treatment of roots with LPSs from R. leguminosarum bv. viciae strain 300, R. meliloti 102F28, or members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. Most infection threads developed successfully in root hairs pretreated with R. trifolii LPS, whereas many infections aborted near their origins and accumulated brown deposits if pretreated with LPS from R. meliloti 102F28. LPS front R. leguminosarum 300 also caused most infection threads to abort. Other specific responses of root hairs to infection-stimulating LPS from R. trifolii included acceleration of cytoplasmic streaming and production of novel proteins. Combined gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy and proton nuclear magnetic resonance analyses indicated that biologically active LPS from R. trifolii 0403 in the early stationary phase had less fucose but more 2-O-methylfucose, quinovosamine, 3,6-dideoxy-3-(methylamino)galactose, and noncarbohydrate substituents (O-methyl, N-methyl, and acetyl groups) on glycosyl components than did inactive LPS in the mid-exponential phase. We conclude that LPS-root hair interactions trigger metabolic events that have a significant impact on successful development of infection threads in this Rhizobium-legume symbiosis.