Suppression of an elicitor-induced oxidative burst reaction in Medicago sativa cell cultures by Sinorhizobium meliloti lipopolysaccharides.

•  The biological activity of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from the symbiotic soil bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti was analysed in cell cultures of the host plant Medicago sativa (alfalfa) and the nonhost plant Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco). •  LPS of S. meliloti were purified and chemically characterized. Alfalfa and tobacco suspension cell cultures responded to yeast elicitors with an alkalinization of the culture medium and the induction of an oxidative burst. This assay was used to study the biological activity of isolated LPS. •  In alfalfa cell cultures the simultaneous addition of purified LPS of S. meliloti suppressed the elicitor induced alkalinization and oxidative burst reaction. Cell cultures of the nonhost tobacco reacted differently to the application of S. meliloti LPS. In these cell cultures, the S. meliloti LPS itself caused an alkalinization of the culture medium and an oxidative burst reaction. •  S. meliloti LPS released from the bacterial surface might function as a specific signal molecule, promoting the symbiotic interaction and suppressing a pathogenic response in the host plant, alfalfa.