title: Cicer canariense, an endemic legume to the Canary Islands, is nodulated in mainland Spain by fast-growing strains from symbiovar trifolii phylogenetically related to Rhizobium leguminosarum.
abstract: Cicer canariense is a threatened endemic legume from the Canary Islands where it can be nodulated by mesorhizobial strains from the symbiovar ciceri, which is the common worldwide endosymbiont of Cicer arietinum linked to the genus Mesorhizobium. However, when C. canariense was cultivated in a soil from mainland Spain, where the symbiovar ciceri is present, only fast-growing rhizobial strains were unexpectedly isolated from its nodules. These strains were classified into the genus Rhizobium by analysis of the recA and atpD genes, and they were phylogenetically related to Rhizobium leguminosarum. The analysis of the nodC gene showed that the isolated strains belonged to the symbiovar trifolii that harbored a nodC allele (β allele) different to that harbored by other strains from this symbiovar. Nodulation experiments carried out with the lacZ-labeled strain RCCHU01, representative of the β nodC allele, showed that it induced curling of root hairs, infected them through infection threads, and formed typical indeterminate nodules where nitrogen fixation took place. This represents a case of exceptional performance between the symbiovar trifolii and a legume from the tribe Cicereae that opens up new possibilities and provides new insights into the study of rhizobia-legume symbiosis.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martínez-Hidalgo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: José-David
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Flores-Félix
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Menéndez
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: Raúl
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rivas
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carro
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Mateos
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain.
authors.forename: Eustoquio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martínez-Molina
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Microbiología, Biología Celular y Genética, Universidad de La Laguna, 38071 La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
authors.forename: Milagros
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: León-Barrios
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain. Electronic address: evp@usal.es.
authors.forename: Encarna
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Velázquez
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D029863:Cicer / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017351:N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D055170:Plant Root Nodulation; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000235:genetics; D016961:Rhizobium leguminosarum / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D053204:Root Nodules, Plant / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology; D013030:Spain; D013559:Symbiosis; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D014157:Transcription Factors; D017351:N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases; C060771:NodC protein, Rhizobiales; D011938:Rec A Recombinases
keywords: Cicer canariense; Identification; Nodulation; Rhizobium leguminosarum; Symbiosis