Near-full length sequencing of 16S rDNA and RFLP indicates that Rhizobium etli is the dominant species nodulating Egyptian winter Berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.).
Egyptian winter Berseem clover (EWBC) is one of the main important forage legume crops in Egypt that is used for animal feeding in winter and it occupies about 2.5 million feddans (Feddan=4200m(2)) in winter agricultural rotation systems. Forty-eight rhizobial isolates that nodulated this legume host from different geographical regions within Egypt were isolated. RFLP analyses of 16S rDNA (1.5kb) and whole ribosomal DNA (5kb), the sequencing of 16S rDNA, and the sequencing of nodC, nifH and house keeping genes were used to identify these isolates. The RFLP analysis of 16S rDNA (1.5kb) among 15 representative strains with three enzymes generated two genotypes. The largest genotype was similar to Rhizobium etli CFN42T (93.33%) except for strain 902 that failed to re-nodulate EWBC. RFLP analysis of complete ribosomal DNA (5kb) produced five genotypes. The majority of tested strains shared the genotype with R. etli CFN42T (53.33%). Only one strain (1002) shared the genotype with Rhizobium leguminosarum sv. trifolii 3023. The other four strains were comprised of two unique genotypes. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rDNA sequences revealed that seven representative strains could be divided into two genetic clusters sharing the ancestral clad with R. etli CFN42T. A phylogenetic tree based on nodC gene sequence confirmed that all the examined strains shared the genetic lineage with R. leguminosarum sv. trifolii WSM1325. The phylogenetic trees of house keeping genes are supported strongly the identification of majority of strains as a novel symbiovar of R. etli with new lineages.
['Shamseldin|Abdelaal|A|', 'Moawad|Hassan|H|', 'Abd El-Rahim|Wafaa M|WM|', 'Sadowsky|Michael J|MJ|']
D001426:Bacterial Proteins D058448:Biota D016000:Cluster Analysis D004269:DNA, Bacterial D004275:DNA, Ribosomal D004534:Egypt D008969:Molecular Sequence Data D017351:N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases D010088:Oxidoreductases D010802:Phylogeny D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S D042163:Rhizobium etli D016961:Rhizobium leguminosarum D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA D029921:Trifolium
16S rDNA and complete rDNA Clover symbionts Egyptian soils Genetic diversity Symbiotic genes