title: Nodulation of legumes by members of the beta-subclass of Proteobacteria.
abstract: Members of the Leguminosae form the largest plant family on Earth, with around 18,000 species. The success of legumes can largely be attributed to their ability to form a nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with specific bacteria known as rhizobia, manifested by the development of nodules on the plant roots in which the bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen, a major contributor to the global nitrogen cycle. Rhizobia described so far belong exclusively to the alpha-subclass of Proteobacteria, where they are distributed in four distinct phylogenetic branches. Although nitrogen-fixing bacteria exist in other proteobacterial subclasses, for example Herbaspirillum and Azoarcus from the phylogenetically distant beta-subclass, none has been found to harbour the nod genes essential for establishing rhizobial symbiosis. Here we report the identification of proteobacteria from the beta-subclass that nodulate legumes. This finding shows that the ability to establish a symbiosis with legumes is more widespread in bacteria than anticipated to date.
authors: Laboratoire des Symbioses Tropicales et Méditerranéennes, IRD-INRA-CIRAD-ENSAM Baillarguet, Montpellier, France.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Moulin
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Munive
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Dreyfus
authors: C
authors: C
authors: Boivin-Masson
mesh_terms: D020562:Betaproteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D019117:Burkholderia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000382:microbiology*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation; D010802:Phylogeny; D018517:Plant Roots / Q000382:microbiology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S