Phylogenetic Diversity and Symbiotic Effectiveness of <i>Bradyrhizobium</i> Strains Nodulating <i>Glycine max</i> in Côte d’Ivoire
Soybean (<i>Glycine max</i>) is a protein-rich legume crop that plays an important role in achieving food security. The aim of this study was to isolate soybean-nodulating rhizobia from Côte d’Ivoire soils and evaluate their potential as efficient strains in order to develop local bioino...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/7/1720 |
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| Summary: | Soybean (<i>Glycine max</i>) is a protein-rich legume crop that plays an important role in achieving food security. The aim of this study was to isolate soybean-nodulating rhizobia from Côte d’Ivoire soils and evaluate their potential as efficient strains in order to develop local bioinoculants. For this objective, 38 composite soil samples were collected from Côte d’Ivoire’s five major climatic zones. These soils were used as substrate to trap the nodulating rhizobia using the promiscuous soybean variety R2-231. A total of 110 bacterial strains were isolated and subsequently identified. The analysis of ITS (rDNA16S-23S), <i>glnII</i> and <i>recA</i> sequences revealed a relatively low genetic diversity of these native rhizobia. Moreover, the ITS phylogeny showed that these were scattered into two <i>Bradyrhizobium</i> clades dominated by the <i>B. elkanii</i> supergroup, with ca. 75% of all isolates. Concatenated <i>glnII</i>-<i>recA</i> sequence phylogeny confirmed that the isolates belong in the majority to <i>‘B. brasilense’,</i> together with <i>B. vignae</i> and some putative genospecies of <i>Bradyrhizobium</i> that needs further elucidation. The core gene phylogeny was found to be incongruent with <i>nodC</i> and <i>nifH</i> phylogenies, probably due to lateral gene transfer influence on the symbiotic genes. The diversity and composition of the <i>Bradyrhizobium</i> species varied significantly among different sampling sites, and the key explanatory variables identified were carbon (C), magnesium (Mg), nitrogen (N), pH, and annual precipitation. Based on both shoot biomass and leaf relative chlorophyll content, three isolates consistently showed a higher symbiotic effectiveness than the exotic inoculant strain <i>Bradyrhizobium</i> IRAT-FA3, demonstrating their potential to serve as indigenous elite strains as bioinoculants. |
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| ISSN: | 2073-4395 |