Characterizing Chemical Signaling Between Honey Locust and Rhizobia Using HPLC/MS
Mentor 1
Gyaneshawar Prasad
Location
Union Wisconsin Room
Start Date
27-4-2018 1:00 PM
Description
Many Legumes have a symbiotic relationship with the bacteria Rhizobia, which provides a source of fixed Nitrogen for the plant. Chemical signaling plays a crucial role in mediating this symbiosis, typically involving compounds derived from flavonoids. Upon infection from the bacteria, the host plant forms characteristic root nodules. Although nodule formation is very common throughout the Fabaceae family, there are certain species which do not form root nodules. One such non-nodulating Legume is Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos). In order to investigate if a relationship between Honey Locust and Rhizobia was present, we assayed root and seed exudates using coupled high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy (HPLC-MS) to see if the plant was secreting any known signaling compounds. The 4 compounds of interest were: Apigenin, Diadzein, Luteolin, and Naringenin, all of which have been confirmed signaling molecules in other Legume species. This research has important applications due to the importance of the Rhizobia symbiosis in modern agriculture, as well as to further characterize the symbiotic relationship in a species which is a non-nodulate.
Characterizing Chemical Signaling Between Honey Locust and Rhizobia Using HPLC/MS
Union Wisconsin Room
Many Legumes have a symbiotic relationship with the bacteria Rhizobia, which provides a source of fixed Nitrogen for the plant. Chemical signaling plays a crucial role in mediating this symbiosis, typically involving compounds derived from flavonoids. Upon infection from the bacteria, the host plant forms characteristic root nodules. Although nodule formation is very common throughout the Fabaceae family, there are certain species which do not form root nodules. One such non-nodulating Legume is Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos). In order to investigate if a relationship between Honey Locust and Rhizobia was present, we assayed root and seed exudates using coupled high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectroscopy (HPLC-MS) to see if the plant was secreting any known signaling compounds. The 4 compounds of interest were: Apigenin, Diadzein, Luteolin, and Naringenin, all of which have been confirmed signaling molecules in other Legume species. This research has important applications due to the importance of the Rhizobia symbiosis in modern agriculture, as well as to further characterize the symbiotic relationship in a species which is a non-nodulate.
