Phylogenetic diversity of Rhizobium strains nodulating diverse legume species growing in Ethiopia

The taxonomic diversity of thirty-seven Rhizobium strains, isolated from nodules of leguminous trees and herbs growing in Ethiopia, was studied using multilocus sequence analyses (MLSA) of six core and two symbiosis-related genes. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene grouped them into five clusters related to nine Rhizobium reference species (99–100% sequence similarity). In addition, two test strains occupied their own independent branches on the phylogenetic tree (AC86a2 along with R. tibeticum; 99.1% similarity and AC100b along with R. multihospitium; 99.5% similarity). One strain from Milletia ferruginea was closely related (>99%) to the genus Shinella, further corroborating earlier findings that nitrogen-fixing bacteria are distributed among phylogenetically unrelated taxa. Sequence analyses of five housekeeping genes also separated the strains into five well-supported clusters, three of which grouped with previously studied Ethiopian common bean rhizobia. Three of the five clusters could potentially be described into new species. Based on the nifH genes, most of the test strains from crop legumes were closely related to several strains of Ethiopian common bean rhizobia and other symbionts of bean plants (R. etli and R. gallicum sv. phaseoli). The grouping of the test strains based on the symbiosis-related genes was not in agreement with the housekeeping genes, signifying differences in their evolutionary history. Our earlier studies revealing a large diversity of Mesorhizobium and Ensifer microsymbionts isolated from Ethiopian legumes, together with the results from the present analysis of Rhizobium strains, suggest that this region might be a potential hotspot for rhizobial biodiversity.