title: Characterisation of wild legume nodulating bacteria (LNB) in the infra-arid zone of Tunisia.
abstract: We report on the isolation and the characterization of nitrogen-fixing root nodule bacteria isolated from natural legumes in a region of South Tunisia corresponding to the infra-arid climatic zone. A collection of 60 new bacterial root nodule isolates were obtained from 19 legume species belonging to the genera Acacia, Anthyllis, Argyrolobium, Astragalus, Calycotome, Coronilla, Ebenus, Genista, Hedysarum, Hippocrepis, Lathyrus, Lotus, Medicago, Ononis. The isolates were characterised by (1) comparative 16S ARDRA using 7 enzymes, (2) total cell protein SDS-PAGE analysis and (3) 16S rDNA sequencing. The results show that these isolates are diverse and belong to the genera Rhizobium, Sinorhizobium, Mesorhizobium and Bradyrhizobium. Bradyrhizobium were further characterised by 16S-23S rDNA IGS sequencing. Surprisingly strains nodulating Astragalus cruciatus, Lotus creticus and Anthyllis henoniana were identified as Rhizobium galegae, a species recorded only as endosymbiont of Galega officinalis and G. orientalis in northern regions so far.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Symbioses Tropicales et Méditerranéennes, IRD/INRA/CIRAD/AGRO-M/UM II, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zakhia
authors.forename: Habib
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jeder
authors.forename: Odile
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Domergue
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Willems
authors.forename: Jean-Claude
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Cleyet-Marel
authors.forename: Monique
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gillis
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dreyfus
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Lajudie
mesh_terms: D020561:Alphaproteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020369:Bradyrhizobium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D016172:DNA Fingerprinting; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D007887:Fabaceae / Q000382:microbiology*; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D020543:Proteome / Q000032:analysis / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012230:Rhizobiaceae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism; D012231:Rhizobium; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D020579:Sinorhizobium; D014416:Tunisia
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer; D020543:Proteome; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S