Fractionation and characterization of two morphologically distinct types of cells in Rhizobium japonicum broth culture

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Abstract
Differential centrifugation of stationary phase broth culture of Rhizobium japonicum yielded two distinct morphological types of bacterial cells, rods, and small coccoid forms with capsulated and non-capsulated cells in each group. The rods usually had polar capsules which resulted in "star" formation. The coccoid bacteria were either free with thick capsular material surrounding the cells or held together in a common capsular sheath forming clusters and chains. 125I soybean lectin bound to the two types of cells. The binding sites were localized in the capsular material as revealed by colloidal gold- and ferritin-labelled lectin. Both fractions were capable of nodule formation in the soybean.