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The geographical patterns of symbiont diversity in the invasive legume M imosa pudica can be explained by the competitiveness of its symbionts and by the host genotype
Author(s) -
Melkonian Rémy,
Moulin Lionel,
Béna Gilles,
Tisseyre Pierre,
Chaintreuil Clémence,
Heulin Karine,
Rezkallah Naïma,
Klonowska Agnieszka,
Gonzalez Sophie,
Simon Marcelo,
Chen WenMing,
James Euan K.,
Laguerre Gisèle
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1111/1462-2920.12286
Subject(s) - biology , rhizobia , host (biology) , symbiosis , competition (biology) , biomass (ecology) , strain (injury) , burkholderia , botany , symbiotic bacteria , ecology , bacteria , genetics , anatomy
Summary Variations in the patterns of diversity of symbionts have been described worldwide on M imosa pudica , a pan‐tropical invasive species that interacts with both α and β‐rhizobia. In this study, we investigated if symbiont competitiveness can explain these variations and the apparent prevalence of β‐ over α‐rhizobia. We developed an indirect method to measure the proportion of nodulation against a GFP reference strain and tested its reproducibility and efficiency. We estimated the competitiveness of 54 strains belonging to four species of β‐rhizobia and four of α‐rhizobia, and the influence of the host genotype on their competitiveness. Our results were compared with biogeographical patterns of symbionts and host varieties. We found: (i) a strong strain effect on competitiveness largely explained by the rhizobial species, with B urkholderia phymatum being the most competitive species, followed by B . tuberum , whereas all other species shared similar and reduced levels of competitiveness; (ii) plant genotype can increase the competitiveness of C upriavidus taiwanensis . The latter data support the likelihood of the strong adaptation of C . taiwanensis with the M . pudica var. unijuga and help explain its prevalence as a symbiont of this variety over B urkholderia species in some environments, most notably in T aiwan.