Symbiotic activity of the alfalfa rhizobia (Sinorhizobium meliloti) strains with the genetically modified transport of dicarboxylic acids

Inactivation of genes involved in the dicarbyxylic acid transport in alfalfa rhizobia, Sinorhizobium meliloti (structural gene of succinate permease dctA and its transcriptional regulators dctBD, nifA, ntrA) resulted in the full or partial loss of N₂-fixing activity while amplifications of these genes - in its improvement. It lead to the marked increases of N and C accumulation in alfalfa while its shoot mass was increased by a much lesser degree due to the incomplete N translocation from the roots. Factorial analysis suggested that dctABD amplification was important for improving the symbiotic efficiency in all trials while the effects of dctA, nifA and ntrA amplifications depend on the plant genotypes and growth conditions