Rhizobium vallis sp. nov., isolated from nodules of three leguminous species

Abstract

Four bacterial strains isolated from root nodules of Phaseolus vulgaris, Mimosa pudica and Indigofera spicata plants grown in the Yunnan province of China were identified as a lineage within the genus Rhizobium according to the analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences, sharing most similarity with Rhizobium lusitanum P1-7T (99.1 % sequence similarity) and Rhizobium rhizogenes IAM 13570T (99.0 %). These strains also formed a distinctive group from the reference strains for defined species of the genus Rhizobium in a polyphasic approach, including the phylogenetic analyses of the 16S rRNA gene and housekeeping genes (recA, atpD, glnII), DNA–DNA hybridization, BOX-PCR fingerprinting, phenotypic characterization, SDS-PAGE of whole-cell proteins, and cellular fatty acid profiles. All the data obtained in this study suggested that these strains represent a novel species of the genus Rhizobium, for which the name Rhizobium vallis sp. nov. is proposed. The DNA G+C content (mol%) of this species varied between 60.9 and 61.2 (T m). The type strain of R. vallis sp. nov. is CCBAU 65647T ( = LMG 25295T  = HAMBI 3073T), which has a DNA G+C content of 60.9 mol% and forms effective nodules on Phaseolus vulgaris.