Pleomorphism and acetylene-reducing activity of free-living rhizobia

Cowpea-type Rhizobium sp. strain 32H1 and Rhizobium japonicum USDA 26 and 110 grown on a glutamate-mannitol-gluconate agar medium showed increases in the number of pleomorphic cells coincident with their acetylene-reducing activity. Pleomorphs appeared to be inhibited in growth nonuniformly, because acetylene-reducing cultures were mixtures of rod, branched (V, Y, and T), and other irregularly shaped cells. In contrast, strain USDA 10 consistently failed to reduce acetylene, even though it also could grow and yield pleomorphic cells under various conditions. With minimal inhibitory supplements (5 micrograms per ml of medium) of nalidixic acid and novobiocin as cell division inhibitors, an increase in pleomorphic cells was observed, but the inhibited cultures displayed lower acetylene-reducing activity. A study of pleomorphic cells derived in different ways indicated that not all pleomorphs reduce acetylene.