Diverse rhizobia that nodulate two species of Kummerowia in China

Genetic divergence among Bradyrhizobium strains nodulating wild and cultivated Kummerowia spp. in China

Distribution of rhizobial species is affected by geographical isolation and selected by leguminous hosts, however, little is known about the molecular evolution of rhizobia nodulating the same legume in different eco-environments. In present study, the microevolution of Bradyrhizobium associated with the leguminous grass Kummerowia grown in exurban areas and cultivated in urban areas in China was investigated. Total 14 genospecies, including seven new groups, were identified based on a concatenated sequence analysis of taxonomic markers (SMc00019, truA and thrA) for 94 representative strains. Results demonstrated that lower levels of nucleotide diversity were found in the strains isolated from urban areas compared with those isolated from exurban areas, based on the evolutional analyses of three housekeeping genes (atpD, glnII and recA), two symbiosis-related genes (nodC and nifH), and the taxonomic markers. Moreover, compared with urban areas, gene exchange and recombination occurred more frequently among the genospecies isolated from exurban areas, regardless of the geographical distribution. Finally, the evolutionary lineage of Bradyrhizobium strains isolated from urban areas was independent of that of the strains isolated from exurban areas. In summary, the evolutionary history of Kummerowia bradyrhizobia may have been gradually segregated to different evolutionary lineages, irrespective of distinct biogeography.

Specificity in Legume-Rhizobia Symbioses

Most species in the Leguminosae (legume family) can fix atmospheric nitrogen (N₂) via symbiotic bacteria (rhizobia) in root nodules. Here, the literature on legume-rhizobia symbioses in field soils was reviewed and genotypically characterised rhizobia related to the taxonomy of the legumes from which they were isolated. The Leguminosae was divided into three sub-families, the Caesalpinioideae, Mimosoideae and Papilionoideae. Bradyrhizobium spp. were the exclusive rhizobial symbionts of species in the Caesalpinioideae, but data are limited. Generally, a range of rhizobia genera nodulated legume species across the two Mimosoideae tribes Ingeae and Mimoseae, but Mimosa spp. show specificity towards Burkholderia in central and southern Brazil, Rhizobium/Ensifer in central Mexico and Cupriavidus in southern Uruguay. These specific symbioses are likely to be at least in part related to the relative occurrence of the potential symbionts in soils of the different regions. Generally, Papilionoideae species were promiscuous in relation to rhizobial symbionts, but specificity for rhizobial genus appears to hold at the tribe level for the Fabeae (Rhizobium), the genus level for Cytisus (Bradyrhizobium), Lupinus (Bradyrhizobium) and the New Zealand native Sophora spp. (Mesorhizobium) and species level for Cicer arietinum (Mesorhizobium), Listia bainesii (Methylobacterium) and Listia angolensis (Microvirga). Specificity for rhizobial species/symbiovar appears to hold for Galega officinalis (Neorhizobium galegeae sv. officinalis), Galega orientalis (Neorhizobium galegeae sv. orientalis), Hedysarum coronarium (Rhizobium sullae), Medicago laciniata (Ensifer meliloti sv. medicaginis), Medicago rigiduloides (Ensifer meliloti sv. rigiduloides) and Trifolium ambiguum (Rhizobium leguminosarum sv. trifolii). Lateral gene transfer of specific symbiosis genes within rhizobial genera is an important mechanism allowing legumes to form symbioses with rhizobia adapted to particular soils. Strain-specific legume rhizobia symbioses can develop in particular habitats.

Microsymbiont diversity and phylogeny of native bradyrhizobia associated with soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) nodulation in South African soils

The genetic diversity and identification of slow- and fast-growing soybean root nodule bacterial isolates from different agro-climatic regions in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng Provinces of South Africa were evaluated. The 16S-rDNA-RFLP analysis of 100 rhizobial isolates and eight reference type strains placed the isolates into six major clusters, and revealed their site-dependent genomic diversity. Sequence analysis of single and concatenated housekeeping genes (atpD, glnII and gyrB), as well as the symbiotic gene nifH captured a considerably higher level of genetic diversity and indicated the dominance of Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens and Bradyrhizobium japonicum in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Gauteng Provinces. Gene sequence similarities of isolates with type strains of Bradyrhizobium ranged from 97.3 to 100% for the 16S rDNA, and 83.4 to 100% for the housekeeping genes. The glnII gene phylogeny showed discordance with the other genes, suggesting lateral gene transfer or recombination events. Concatenated gene sequence analysis showed that most of the isolates did not align with known type strains and might represent new species from South Africa. This underscores the high genetic variability associated with soybean Bradyrhizobium in South African soils, and the presence of an important reservoir of novel soybean-nodulating bradyrhizobia in the country. In this study, the grouping of isolates was influenced by site origin, with Group I isolates originating from Limpopo Province and Groups II and III from Mpumlanga Province in the 16S rDNA-RFLP analysis.

Distinct Bradyrhizobium [corrected] communities nodulate legumes native to temperate and tropical monsoon Australia

Geographic isolation and growing climate aridity played major roles in the evolution of Australian legumes. It is likely that these two factors also impacted on the evolution of their root-nodule bacteria. To investigate this issue, we applied a multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) approach to examine Bradyrhizobium isolates originating from temperate areas of Western Australia (WA) and the tropical-monsoon area of the Northern Territory (NT). The isolates were mostly collected from the nodules of legumes belonging to tribes, genera and species endemic or native to Australia. Phylogenetic analyses of sequences for the housekeeping atpD, dnaK, glnII, gyrB, recA and 16S rRNA genes and nodulation nodA gene revealed that most isolates belonged to groups that are distinct from non-Australian Bradyrhizobium isolates, which is in line with earlier studies based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. Phylogenetic analysis of the nodA data allowed identification of five major Clades among the WA and NT isolates. All WA isolates grouped in a subgroup I.1 of Clade I with strains originating from temperate eastern Australia. In contrast, the NT isolates formed part of Clades I (subgroup I.2), III (subgroup III.3), IV, V and X. Of these nodA clades, Clade I, Clade IV, Clade X presumably have an Australian origin. Overall, these data demonstrate that the impact of geographic isolation of the Australian landmass is manifested by the presence of numerous unique clusters in housekeeping and nodulation gene trees. In addition, the intrinsic climate characteristics of temperate WA and tropical-monsoon NT were responsible for the formation of distinct legume communities selecting for unrelated Bradyrhizobium groups.

Bradyrhizobium canariense and Bradyrhizobium japonicum are the two dominant rhizobium species in root nodules of lupin and serradella plants growing in Europe

Forty three Bradyrhizobium strains isolated in Poland from root nodules of lupin species (Lupinus albus, L. angustifolius and L. luteus), and pink serradella (Ornithopus sativus) were examined based on phylogenetic analyses of three housekeeping (atpD, glnII and recA) and nodulation (nodA) gene sequences. Additionally, seven strains originating from root-nodules of yellow serradella (O. compressus) from Asinara Island (Italy) were included in this study. Phylogenetic trees revealed that 15 serradella strains, including all yellow serradella isolates, and six lupin strains grouped in Bradyrhizobium canariense (BC) clade, whereas eight strains from pink serradella and 15 lupin strains were assigned to Bradyrhizobium japonicum (BJ1). Apparently, these species are the two dominant groups in soils of central Europe, in the nodules of lupin and serradella plants. Only three strains belonged to other chromosomal lineages: one formed a cluster that was sister to B. canariense, one strain grouped outside the branch formed by B. japonicum super-group, and one strain occupied a distant position in the genus Bradyrhizobium, clustering with strains of the Rhodopseudomonas genus. All strains in nodulation nodA gene tree grouped in a cluster referred to as Clade II, which is in line with earlier data on this clade dominance among Bradyrhizobium strains in Europe. The nodA tree revealed four well-supported subgroups within Clade II (II.1-II.4). Interestingly, all B. canariense strains clustered in subgroup II.1 whereas B. japonicum strains dominated subgroups II.2-II.4.

Rhizobium herbae sp. nov. and Rhizobium giardinii-related bacteria, minor microsymbionts of various wild legumes in China

Seven Rhizobium strains associated with various legume species grown in different geographical regions of China were defined into four genomic groups related to Rhizobium giardinii, based upon ribosomal intergenic spacer RFLP, phylogenies of 16S rRNA and housekeeping (atpD, recA and glnII) genes, and DNA relatedness. Three strains in group I were classified as R. giardinii, as they showed high gene sequence similarities (>97 %) and DNA relatedness (64.3-67.5 %) to R. giardinii H152(T). Groups II, III and IV differed from all defined Rhizobium species based upon the consensus of all analyses. As group II contained two strains that originated from two distinct populations, we propose this group as a novel species, Rhizobium herbae sp. nov., with strain CCBAU 83011(T) ( = LMG 25718(T) = HAMBI 3117(T)) as the type strain.

Mixture of endophytic Agrobacterium and Sinorhizobium meliloti strains could induce nonspecific nodulation on some woody legumes

Agrobacterium sp. II CCBAU 21244 isolated from root nodules of Wisteria sinensis was verified as an endophytic bacterium by inoculation and reisolation tests. However, inoculation with a mixture of this strain and a Sinorhizobium meliloti strain could induce root nodules on W. sinensis and two other woody legumes, which do not form a symbiosis with S. meliloti alone. Rod-shaped and irregular nodules were found on the inoculated plants, in which the S. meliloti strain was detected in all of the nodules; while the Agrobacterium strain was inside of the rod-shaped nodules, or occupied only the nodule surface of the irregular globe-shaped nodules. These findings revealed novel interactions among the symbiotic bacteria, endophytic bacteria and the legume plants, although the mechanisms are still unknown.

Rhizobium tibeticum sp. nov., a symbiotic bacterium isolated from Trigonella archiducis-nicolai (Sirj.) Vassilcz

Isolated from root nodules of Trigonella archiducis-nicolai (Sirj.) Vassilcz. grown in Tibet, China, cells of the bacterial strains CCBAU 85039(T) and CCBAU 85027 were Gram-negative, aerobic, motile, non-spore-forming rods that formed colonies that were semi-translucent and opalescent on yeast extract-mannitol agar. In numerical taxonomy, SDS-PAGE analysis of whole-cell proteins and DNA-DNA hybridization, the two strains were very similar and were different from reference strains of defined Rhizobium species. In the phylogeny based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, they were most similar to Rhizobium etli CFN 42(T) (98.2 % similarity) and R. leguminosarum USDA 2370(T) (97.6 %). Sequence analyses of the housekeeping genes recA, atpD and glnII and the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer, phenotypic characteristics and cellular fatty acid profiles strongly suggested that these two strains represented a novel species within Rhizobium. Cross-nodulation tests and sequencing of nifH and nodA genes showed that these two strains were symbiotic bacteria that nodulated Trigonella archiducis-nicolai, Medicago lupulina, Medicago sativa, Melilotus officinalis, Phaseolus vulgaris and Trigonella foenum-graecum. Based on the results, the novel species Rhizobium tibeticum sp. nov. is described to accommodate the two strains. The type strain is CCBAU 85039(T) (=LMG 24453(T) =CGMCC 1.7071(T)). The DNA G+C content of this strain is 59.7 mol% (T(m)).

Novel associations between rhizobial populations and legume species within the genera Lathyrus and O xytropis grown in the temperate region of China

Fifty rhizobial isolates of Lathyrus and Oxytropis collected from northern regions of China were studied in their genotypic characterization based upon analyses of ARDRA, 16S-23S IGS PCR-RFLP, TP-RAPD, MLEE, sequences of 16S rDNA gene and housekeeping genes of atpD, recA and glnII. The results demonstrated that most of the Lathyrus rhizobia belonged to Rhizobium and most of the Oxytropis rhizobia belonged to Sinorhizobium. A novel group of Rhizobium sp. I and S. meliloti were identified as the main microsymbionts respectively associated with Lathyrus and Oxytropis species in the collection area, which were new associations between rhizobia and the mentioned hosts. This study also provides new evidence for biogeography of rhizobia.

Shinella kummerowiae sp. nov., a symbiotic bacterium isolated from root nodules of the herbal legume Kummerowia stipulacea

Bacterial strain CCBAU 25048(T) was isolated from root nodules of Kummerowia stipulacea grown in Shandong province of China. Cells of the strain were Gram-negative, strictly aerobic, non-spore-forming, motile short rods. Phylogeny of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the strain belonged to the genus Shinella, a member of family Rhizobiaceae. Its closest phylogenetic relatives were Shinella granuli Ch06(T) and Shinella zoogloeoides IAM 12669(T), respectively showing 98.3 and 98.9 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. Strain CCBAU 25048(T) had DNA-DNA relatedness of 43.5 and 34.8 %, respectively, with S. zoogloeoides JCM 20728(T) and S. granuli JCM 13254(T). In addition, in TP-RAPD analysis, different patterns were obtained for these three strains and some rhizobial strains. The nifH, nodC and nodD sequences of CCBAU 25048(T) were identical or very similar to those of bean-nodulating Rhizobium tropici strains. Several phenotypic characteristics, including the use of citrate and d-ribose as carbon sources and growth at pH 11.0, as well as the fatty acid composition, could differentiate CCBAU 25048(T) from the two defined Shinella species. Therefore, a novel species Shinella kummerowiae sp. nov. is proposed, with strain CCBAU 25048(T) (=JCM 14778(T) =LMG 24136(T)) as the type strain.