Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28469244›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2017

Policing the legume-Rhizobium symbiosis: a critical test of partner choice.

Annet Westhoek, Elsa Field, Finn Rehling, Geraldine Mulley, Isabel Webb, Philip S Poole, Lindsay A Turnbull

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 52 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
52citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

52 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Annet WesthoekDepartment of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-8460-4287
Elsa FieldDepartment of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-5669-5046
Finn RehlingDepartment of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK.
Geraldine MulleySchool of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6AJ, UK.
Isabel WebbDepartment of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK.
Philip S PooleDepartment of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK. philip.poole@plants.ox.ac.uk.
Lindsay A TurnbullDepartment of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK. lindsay.turnbull@plants.ox.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-8035-2879

Funding

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/J007749/2Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/J014524/1Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BB/K006134/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In legume-Rhizobium symbioses, specialised soil bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen in return for carbon. However, ineffective strains can arise, making discrimination essential. Discrimination can occur via partner choice, where legumes prevent ineffective strains from entering, or via sanctioning, where plants provide fewer resources. Several studies have inferred that legumes exercise partner choice, but the rhizobia compared were not otherwise isogenic. To test when and how plants discriminate ineffective strains we developed sets of fixing and non-fixing strains that differed only in the expression of nifH - essential for nitrogen fixation - and could be visualised using marker genes. We show that the plant is unable to select against the non-fixing strain at the point of entry, but that non-fixing nodules are sanctioned. We also used the technique to characterise mixed nodules (containing both a fixing and a non-fixing strain), whose frequency could be predicted using a simple diffusion model. We discuss that sanctioning is likely to evolve in preference to partner choice in any symbiosis where partner quality cannot be adequately assessed until goods or services are actively exchanged.

Indexed as

SymbiosisNitrogen FixationPisum sativumRhizobium leguminosarumRoot Nodules, Plant

Identifiers

PMID28469244
PMCPMC5431162

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.