Flavonoids Released Naturally from Alfalfa Seeds Enhance Growth Rate of Rhizobium meliloti.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) releases different flavonoids from seeds and roots. Imbibing seeds discharge 3',4',5,7-substituted flavonoids; roots exude 5-deoxy molecules. Many, but not all, of these flavonoids induce nodulation (nod) genes in Rhizobium meliloti. The dominant flavonoid released from alfalfa seeds is identified here as quercetin-3-O-galactoside, a molecule that does not induce nod genes. Low concentrations (1-10 micromolar) of this compound, as well as luteolin-7-O-glucoside, another major flavonoid released from germinating seeds, and the aglycones, quercetin and luteolin, increase growth rate of R. meliloti in a defined minimal medium. Tests show that the 5,7-dihydroxyl substitution pattern on those molecules was primarily responsible for the growth effect, thus explaining how 5-deoxy flavonoids in root exudates fail to enhance growth of R. meliloti. Luteolin increases growth by a mechanism separate from its capacity to induce rhizobial nod genes, because it still enhanced growth rate of R. meliloti lacking functional copies of the three known nodD genes. Quercetin and luteolin also increased growth rate of Pseudomonas putida. They had no effect on growth rate of Bacillus subtilis or Agrobacterium tumefaciens, but they slowed growth of two fungal pathogens of alfalfa. These results suggest that alfalfa can create ecochemical zones for controlling soil microbes by releasing structurally different flavonoids from seeds and roots.