Rhizobial microsymbionts of the narrowly endemic Oxytropis species growing in Kamchatka possess a set of genes that are associated with T3SS and T6SS secretion systems and can affect the development of symbiosis

A collection of rhizobial strains isolated from root nodules of the narrowly endemic legume species Oxytropis erecta, O. anadyrensis, O. kamtschatica and O. pumilio growing on the Kamchatka Peninsula (Russian Federation) was obtained. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed a significant diversity of isolates belonging to the families Rhizobiaceae (Rhizobium), Phyllobacteriaceae (Mesorhizobium, Phyllobacterium) and Bradyrhizobiaceae (Bosea, Tardiphaga). Pairs of taxonomically different strains in various combinations were isolated from some nodules of Oxytropis plants. Plant nodulation assays showed that only strains belonging to the genus Mesorhizobium (M. jarvisii, M. loti and M. huakuii) could form nitrogen-fixing nodules. The nitrogen-fixing activity of the strains was more associated with the host plant than with the species of strains. The whole genome sequences analysis showed that the strains M. loti 582 and M. huakuii 583 possessed symbiotic genes necessary for the formation of effective symbiosis and grouped into Sym-clusters. In contrast, the strain T. robiniae 581 had only a reduced number of fix genes, while the strains Phyllobacterium sp. 628 and R. lusitanum 629 possesed only individual symbiotic genes, which obviously did not participate in the formation of nodules. It was also stated that the strains M. loti 582 and M. huakuii 583 had a significantly larger set of genes related to the secretion systems T3SS and T6SS that can affect the host specificity of strains, compared with 6 commercial strains used as reference. These two strains formed nodules of two types (typical elongated and atypical rounded) on Oxytropis plants. We suggest that a possible cause of the observed phenomenon is the availability of different nodulation strategies in these strains (dependent and independent of Nod-factors). Thus, as a result of studying the collection of strains isolated from the narrow endemic species of Kamchatka Oxytropis, interesting objects were selected to study the functions of the T3SS and T6SS genes, and their role in the development of rhizobia-legume symbiosis. The prospects of using strains with gene systems for both symbiotic and non-symbiotic nodulation to enhance the efficiency of plant-microbe interactions by expanding the host specificity and increasing the efficiency of nodulation are discussed.