Effects of indole-3-acetic acid on Sinorhizobium meliloti survival and on symbiotic nitrogen fixation and stem dry weight production

We evaluated the effects of the main auxin phytohormone, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), on the central metabolism of Sinorhizobium meliloti strain 1021. We either treated the Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 strain with 0.5 mM IAA (1021+) or use a derivative, RD64, of the same strain harbouring a pathway for IAA biosynthesis converting tryptophan into IAA via indoleacetamide. We assayed the activity of key enzymes in the major energy-yielding pathways (Entner-Doudoroff, Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas, pentose phosphate, glyoxylate bypass and tricarboxylic acid cycle). We found that activity of two main regulative tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzymes was increased. Citrate synthase (CS) activity, as compa…