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Journal of Bacteriology, August 2006, p. 5570-5577, Vol. 188, No. 15
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00335-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Multilocus Sequence Typing as an Approach for Population Analysis of Medicago-Nodulating Rhizobia

Peter van Berkum,1* Patrick Elia,1 and Bertrand D. Eardly2

Soybean Genomics and Improvement Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, Maryland 20705,1 Penn State Berks College, Berks Campus, P.O. Box 7009, Reading, Pennsylvania 196102

Received 7 March 2006/ Accepted 25 May 2006

Multilocus sequence typing (MLST), a sequence-based method to characterize bacterial genomes, was used to examine the genetic structure in a large collection of Medicago-nodulating rhizobial strains. This is the first study where MLST has been applied in conjunction with eBURST analysis to determine the population genetic structure of nonpathogenic bacteria recovered from the soil environment. Sequence variation was determined in 10 chromosomal loci of 231 strains that predominantly originated from southwest Asia. Genetic diversity for each locus ranged from 0.351 to 0.819, and the strains examined were allocated to 91 different allelic profiles or sequence types (STs). The genus Medicago is nodulated by at least two groups of rhizobia with divergent chromosomes that have been classified as Sinorhizobium meliloti and Sinorhizobium medicae. Evidence was obtained that the degree of genetic exchange among the chromosomes across these groups is limited. The symbiosis with Medicago polymorpha of nine strains placed in one of these groups, previously identified as S. medicae, ranged from ineffective to fully effective, indicating that there was no strong relationship between symbiotic phenotype and chromosomal genotype.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Soybean Genomics and Improvement Laboratory, HH-4, Bldg. 010, BARC-West, USDA, ARS, 10300 Baltimore Blvd., Beltsville, MD 20705. Phone: (301) 504-7280. Fax: (301) 713-0308. E-mail: pberkum{at}ba.ars.usda.gov.

Journal of Bacteriology, August 2006, p. 5570-5577, Vol. 188, No. 15
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00335-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • van Berkum, P., Badri, Y., Elia, P., Aouani, M. E., Eardly, B. D. (2007). Chromosomal and Symbiotic Relationships of Rhizobia Nodulating Medicago truncatula and M. laciniata. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 7597-7604 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bailly, X., Olivieri, I., Brunel, B., Cleyet-Marel, J.-C., Bena, G. (2007). Horizontal Gene Transfer and Homologous Recombination Drive the Evolution of the Nitrogen-Fixing Symbionts of Medicago Species. J. Bacteriol. 189: 5223-5236 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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