Arabidopsis thaliana: a model for studies of colonization by non-pathogenic and plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria

Arabidopsis thaliana L. has many features favoring its use as a model in studies of plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), such as diazotrophs. Several niches are colonized in the root system ofArabidopsis, including xylem, and intact colonized roots can be observed microscopically without sectioning of tissues. Studies of plant genes involved in colonization are facilitated by the ease with which plants are transformed and by the availability of mutant lines and other accessions obtainable from stock centers. Lines of Arabidopsis carrying reporter gene fusions are helping to reveal the pattern of expression of previously cloned plant genes induced by rhizobacteria. Studies utilizing indole-3-acetic acid (IAA)-producing PGPR and Arabidopsis that contain an auxin-responsive GUS fusion suggest that plants perceive IAA released by bacteria in the rhizosphere. The role of flavonoids in the colonization of non-legumes is being assessed using transgenic Arabidopsis with altered flavonoid metabolism and using tt mutants, which lack functional versions of specific genes for flavonoid metabolism. Studies of plant defence and of stress responses are producing molecular data on plant genes induced by inoculation of Arabidopsis roots with non-pathogens.