Herbaspirillum seropedicae SmR1

Herbaspirillum seropedicae is a small spiral-shaped bacteria originally isolated from herbaceous seed-bearing plants. Strain SmR1 is a spontaneous streptomycin resistant mutant of strain Z78 (ATCC 35893), which was isolated from Sorghum bicolor roots in Brazil in 1982. It is able to fix atmospheric N(2) under microaerobic conditions and grows well with N(2) as a sole nitrogen source. It is an endophytic diazotroph found in association with roots, stems and leaves of economically important graminaceous species such sugarcane, rice and maize, as well as at least 10 other Gramineae. Green-house and field experiments showed that inoculation with H. seropedicae increased the growth rates, crop yield and the dry weight of both roots and shoots of several plant species (adapted from PMID 8782693). (EBI Integr8)