Infection of plants and plant tissue cultures with cyanobacteria-bacteria complexes

The infection of tobacco, nightshade, rice plants, and their tissue culture s with the cyanobacteria-bacteria associative microsymbiont complexes (AMC) isolated from natural syncyanoses (the ferns Azolla pinnata and Azolla sp, and the cycad Encephalartos ferox) was studied. The inoculation of the int act plants or their cuttings with AMC led to the colonization of the plant roots, stems, and leaves by cyanobacteria and their bacterial symbionts (re ferred to as satellite bacteria, SE). The sites of the long-term contact of plant organs with cyanobacteria were characterized by the formation of cop ious slime. On the roots of infected plants, one could observe the callus g rowth of cortical parenchyma cells and the formation of pseudonodules, in w hich SE cells gradually accumulated. In mixed cultures of plant callus tiss ues and the AMC isolated from the ferns A. pinnata and Azolla sp., the call us tissue specifically influenced the growth of the AMC components, causing (depending on the plant species and strain) either their balanced growth, or their cyclic growth, or the predominant growth of one of the AMC compone nts (either cyanobacteria or satellite bacteria). This phenomenon is propos ed to be used for the dissociation of stable multicomponent natural symbiot ic complexes and the selection of their particular components.