What is "frankia"

Frankia is a genus of nitrogen fixing, filamentous bacteria that live in symbiosis with actinorhizal plants, similar to the Rhizobia bacteria that are found in the root nodules of legumes in the Fabaceae family. Bacteria of this genus also form root nodules.

This genus was originally named by Jørgen Brunchorst in 1886 to honor the German biologist, A. B. Frank. Brunchorst considered the organism he had identified to be a filamentous fungus. Becking redefined the genus in 1970 as containing prokaryotic actinomycetes and created the family Frankiaceae within the Actinomycetales. He retained the original name of Frankia for the genus.

[[Image:A sectioned alder root nodule gall.JPG|right|202px|thumb|

A section through an alder root nodule]]

1. Prokaryotic symbionts in plants by Katharina Pawlowski, p. 107↩
2. Frankia taxonomy↩