The pSym Plasmid of Rhizobium Meliloti. II. Transcription Studies

The establishment of a functional nitrogen-fixing symbiosis between Rhizobium and a legume involves the differenciation of cells from both partners into specialized states -the bacteroids and the nodule cells respectively. We are interested in the biochemical transformations occurring between the free-living and the endosymbiotic forms of the lucerne symbiont Rhizobium meliloti. Here we report studies on genetic expression in bacteroids and free-living bacteria.