Plant and Bacteria: Symbiotic Relationship

Honourable Mention

A nodule is a specialized structure that forms on the roots of an alfalfa plant when it's infected with Sinorhizobium meliloti, a Gram-negative bacteria. However, in this case, "infection" doesn’t mean harm. Instead, the bacteria inside these nodules help the plant grow by converting atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, a form the plant can use as a natural fertilizer. By naturally enriching the soil with nitrogen, these bacteria reduce the need for synthetic fertilizers, making farming more sustainable and eco-friendly. Although root nodules are visible to the naked eye, they are small. I selected this one with a distinct heart shape to zoom in on it under the microscope. In my research, Sinorhizobium meliloti serves as a model organism, where I focus on identifying and characterizing the genes and proteins that enable bacterial survival and persistence under harsh physicochemical environmental conditions. This image comes from one of my experiments, where I tested the impact of certain mutations on the bacteria ability to nodulate its partner alfalfa plant.