Burkholderia species are ancient symbionts of legumes

Cyril Bontemps, Geoffrey N. Elliott, Marcelo F. Simon, Fabio B. Dos Reis Junior, Eduardo Gross, Rebecca C. Lawton, Nicolau Elias Neto, Maria De Fatima Loureiro, Sergio M. De Faria, Janet I. Sprent, Euan K. James, J. Peter W. Young

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Burkholderia has only recently been recognized as a potential nitrogen-fixing symbiont of legumes, but we find that the origins of symbiosis in Burkholderia are much deeper than previously suspected. We sampled 143 symbionts from 47 native species of Mimosa across 1800 km in central Brazil and found that 98% were Burkholderia. Gene sequences defined seven distinct and divergent species complexes within the genus Burkholderia. The symbiosis-related genes formed deep Burkholderia-specific clades, each specific to a species complex, implying that these genes diverged over a long period within Burkholderia without substantial horizontal gene transfer between species complexes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)44-52
Number of pages9
JournalMolecular Ecology
Volume19
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2010

Bibliographical note

This article was fast-tracked as a "From the Cover" article and was accompanied by a commentary by Angus & Hirsch in the same issue (DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2009.04459.x)

Keywords

  • biodiversity
  • Brazil
  • Mimosa
  • nitrogen fixation
  • rhizobia
  • SP-NOV.
  • ROOT-NODULES
  • MIMOSA SPP.
  • BETA-PROTEOBACTERIA
  • NITROGEN-FIXATION
  • TROPICAL LEGUMES
  • SOUTH-AMERICA
  • NODULATION
  • RHIZOBIA
  • CUPRIAVIDUS

Cite this