Dataset Information

Genetic and symbiotic diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria isolated from agricultural soils in the western Amazon by using cowpea as the trap plant.

ABSTRACT: Cowpea is a legume of great agronomic importance that establishes symbiotic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. However, little is known about the genetic and symbiotic diversity of these bacteria in distinct ecosystems. Our study evaluated the genetic diversity and symbiotic efficiencies of 119 bacterial strains isolated from agriculture soils in the western Amazon using cowpea as a trap plant. These strains were clustered into 11 cultural groups according to growth rate and pH. The 57 nonnodulating strains were predominantly fast growing and acidifying, indicating a high incidence of endophytic strains in the nodules. The other 62 strains, authenticated as nodulating bacteria, exhibited various symbiotic efficiencies, with 68% of strains promoting a significant increase in shoot dry matter of cowpea compared with the control with no inoculation and low levels of mineral nitrogen. Fifty genotypes with 70% similarity and 21 genotypes with 30% similarity were obtained through repetitive DNA sequence (BOX element)-based PCR (BOX-PCR) clustering. The 16S rRNA gene sequencing of strains representative of BOX-PCR clusters showed a predominance of bacteria from the genus Bradyrhizobium but with high species diversity. Rhizobium, Burkholderia, and Achromobacter species were also identified. These results support observations of cowpea promiscuity and demonstrate the high symbiotic and genetic diversity of rhizobia species in areas under cultivation in the western Amazon.

SUBMITTER: Azarias Guimaraes A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3426679 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Genetic and symbiotic diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria isolated from agricultural soils in the western Amazon by using cowpea as the trap plant.

Azarias Guimarães Amanda A Duque Jaramillo Paula Marcela PM Simão Abrahão Nóbrega Rafaela R Florentino Ligiane Aparecida LA Barroso Silva Karina K de Souza Moreira Fatima Maria FM

Applied and environmental microbiology 20120713 18

Cowpea is a legume of great agronomic importance that establishes symbiotic relationships with nitrogen-fixing bacteria. However, little is known about the genetic and symbiotic diversity of these bacteria in distinct ecosystems. Our study evaluated the genetic diversity and symbiotic efficiencies of 119 bacterial strains isolated from agriculture soils in the western Amazon using cowpea as a trap plant. These strains were clustered into 11 cultural groups according to growth rate and pH. The 57 ...[more]

PMID: 22798370

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Project description:Fertilizer application is a common anthropogenic alteration to terrestrial systems. Increased nutrient input can impact soil microbial diversity or function directly through altered soil environments, or indirectly through plant-microbe feedbacks, with potentially important effects on ecologically-important plant-associated mutualists. We investigated the impacts of plant fertilizer, containing all common macro and micronutrients on symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia), a group of bacteria that are important for plant productivity and ecosystem function. We collected rhizobia nodule isolates from natural field soil that was treated with slow-release plant fertilizer over a single growing season and compared phenotypic traits related to free-living growth and host partner quality in these isolates to those of rhizobia from unfertilized soils. Through a series of single inoculation assays in controlled glasshouse conditions, we found that isolates from fertilized field soil provided legume hosts with higher mutualistic benefits. Through growth assays on media containing variable plant fertilizer concentrations, we found that plant fertilizer was generally beneficial for rhizobia growth. Rhizobia isolated from fertilized field soil had higher growth rates in the presence of plant fertilizer compared to isolates from unfertilized field soil, indicating that plant fertilizer application favoured rhizobia isolates with higher abilities to utilize fertilizer for free-living growth. We found a positive correlation between growth responses to fertilizer and mutualism benefits among isolates from fertilized field soil, demonstrating that variable plant fertilizer induces context-dependent genetic correlations, potentially changing the evolutionary trajectory of either trait through increased trait dependencies. Our study shows that short-term application is sufficient to alter the composition of rhizobia isolates in the population or community, either directly though changes in the soil chemistry or indirectly through altered host legume feedbacks, and is potentially a strong selective agent acting on natural rhizobia populations.

Dataset Information

Genetic and symbiotic diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria isolated from agricultural soils in the western Amazon by using cowpea as the trap plant.

Publications

Genetic and symbiotic diversity of nitrogen-fixing bacteria isolated from agricultural soils in the western Amazon by using cowpea as the trap plant.

Similar Datasets

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