An invasive Mimosa in India does not adopt the symbionts of its native relatives
Open Access
- 26 May 2013
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Annals of Botany
- Vol. 112 (1), 179-196
- https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mct112
Abstract
The large monophyletic genus Mimosa comprises approx. 500 species, most of which are native to the New World, with Central Brazil being the main centre of radiation. All Brazilian Mimosa spp. so far examined are nodulated by rhizobia in the betaproteobacterial genus Burkholderia. Approximately 10 Mya, transoceanic dispersal resulted in the Indian subcontinent hosting up to six endemic Mimosa spp. The nodulation ability and rhizobial symbionts of two of these, M. hamata and M. himalayana, both from north-west India, are here examined, and compared with those of M. pudica, an invasive species. Nodules were collected from several locations, and examined by light and electron microscopy. Rhizobia isolated from them were characterized in terms of their abilities to nodulate the three Mimosa hosts. The molecular phylogenetic relationships of the rhizobia were determined by analysis of 16S rRNA, nifH and nodA gene sequences. Both native Indian Mimosa spp. nodulated effectively in their respective rhizosphere soils. Based on 16S rRNA, nifH and nodA sequences, their symbionts were identified as belonging to the alphaproteobacterial genus Ensifer, and were closest to the ‘Old World’ Ensifer saheli, E. kostiensis and E. arboris. In contrast, the invasive M. pudica was predominantly nodulated by Betaproteobacteria in the genera Cupriavidus and Burkholderia. All rhizobial strains tested effectively nodulated their original hosts, but the symbionts of the native species could not nodulate M. pudica. The native Mimosa spp. in India are not nodulated by the Burkholderia symbionts of their South American relatives, but by a unique group of alpha-rhizobial microsymbionts that are closely related to the ‘local’ Old World Ensifer symbionts of other mimosoid legumes in north-west India. They appear not to share symbionts with the invasive M. pudica, symbionts of which are mostly beta-rhizobial.Keywords
This publication has 63 references indexed in Scilit:
- Burkholderia and Cupriavidus spp. are the preferred symbionts of Mimosa spp. in Southern ChinaFEMS Microbiology Ecology, 2012
- Genetic diversity of Mimosa pudica rhizobial symbionts in soils of French Guiana: investigating the origin and diversity of Burkholderia phymatum and other beta-rhizobiaFEMS Microbiology Ecology, 2011
- MEGA5: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis Using Maximum Likelihood, Evolutionary Distance, and Maximum Parsimony MethodsMolecular Biology and Evolution, 2011
- Burkholderia phymatum Strains Capable of Nodulating Phaseolus vulgaris Are Present in Moroccan SoilsApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2010
- Rhizobia with different symbiotic efficiencies nodulate Acaciella angustissima in Mexico, including Sinorhizobium chiapanecum sp. nov. which has common symbiotic genes with Sinorhizobium mexicanumFEMS Microbiology Ecology, 2009
- Nodulation of Cyclopia spp. (Leguminosae, Papilionoideae) by Burkholderia tuberumAnnals of Botany, 2007
- Monophyly of nodA and nifH Genes across Texan and Costa Rican Populations of Cupriavidus Nodule SymbiontsApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2007
- Burkholderia phymatum is a highly effective nitrogen‐fixing symbiont of Mimosa spp. and fixes nitrogen ex plantaNew Phytologist, 2006
- Confidence Limits on Phylogenies: An Approach Using the BootstrapEvolution, 1985
- A simple method for estimating evolutionary rates of base substitutions through comparative studies of nucleotide sequencesJournal of Molecular Evolution, 1980