Open AccessSymbiotic characterization and diversity of rhizobia associated with native and introduced acacias in arid and semi‐arid regions in A lgeria
Author(s) -
Boukhatem Zineb Faiza,
Domergue Odile,
Bekki Abdelkader,
Merabet Chahinez,
Sekkour Sonia,
Bouazza Fatima,
Duponnois Robin,
Lajudie Philippe,
Galiana Antoine
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2012.01315.x
Subject(s) - biology , rhizobia , mesorhizobium , acacia , bradyrhizobium , botany , arid , symbiosis , sinorhizobium , ecology , bacteria , genetics
The diversity of rhizobia associated with introduced and native A cacia species in A lgeria was investigated from soil samples collected across seven districts distributed in arid and semi‐arid zones. The in vitro tolerances of rhizobial strains to NaCl and high temperature in pure culture varied greatly regardless of their geographical and host plant origins but were not correlated with the corresponding edaphoclimatic characteristics of the sampling sites, as clearly demonstrated by principal component analysis. Based on 16 S rRNA gene sequence comparisons, the 48 new strains isolated were ranked into 10 phylogenetic groups representing five bacterial genera, namely, E nsifer , M esorhizobium , R hizobium , B radyrhizobium , and O chrobactrum . A cacia saligna , an introduced species, appeared as the most promiscuous host because it was efficiently nodulated with the widest diversity of rhizobia taxa including both fast‐growing ones, R hizobium , E nsifer , and M esorhizobium , and slow‐growing B radyrhizobium . The five other A cacia species studied were associated with fast‐growing bacterial taxa exclusively. No difference in efficiency was found between bacterial taxa isolated from a given A cacia species. The tolerances of strains to salinity and temperature remains to be tested in symbiosis with their host plants to select the most adapted A cacia sp.‐ LNB taxa associations for further revegetation programs.