Nodulation of legumes by members of the β-subclass of Proteobacteria

Lionel Moulin, Antonio Munive, Bernard Dreyfus and Catherine Boivin-Masson ()
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Lionel Moulin: IRD-INRA-CIRAD-ENSAM Baillarguet
Antonio Munive: IRD-INRA-CIRAD-ENSAM Baillarguet
Bernard Dreyfus: IRD-INRA-CIRAD-ENSAM Baillarguet
Catherine Boivin-Masson: IRD-INRA-CIRAD-ENSAM Baillarguet

Nature, 2001, vol. 411, issue 6840, 948-950

Abstract: Abstract Members of the Leguminosae form the largest plant family on Earth, with around 18,000 species. The success of legumes can largely be attributed to their ability to form a nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with specific bacteria known as rhizobia, manifested by the development of nodules on the plant roots in which the bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen, a major contributor to the global nitrogen cycle. Rhizobia described so far belong exclusively to the α-subclass of Proteobacteria, where they are distributed in four distinct phylogenetic branches1,2. Although nitrogen-fixing bacteria exist in other proteobacterial subclasses, for example Herbaspirillum and Azoarcus from the phylogenetically distant β-subclass, none has been found to harbour the nod genes essential for establishing rhizobial symbiosis3,4. Here we report the identification of proteobacteria from the β-subclass that nodulate legumes. This finding shows that the ability to establish a symbiosis with legumes is more widespread in bacteria than anticipated to date.

Date: 2001
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DOI: 10.1038/35082070

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