caa a22 4500 605506477 CHVBK 20210128100627.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150601xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00253-014-6347-6 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00253-014-6347-6 Alfalfa microsymbionts from different ITS and nodC lineages of Ensifer meliloti and Ensifer medicae symbiovar meliloti establish efficient symbiosis with alfalfa in Spanish acid soils [Elektronische Daten] [Martha-Helena Ramírez-Bahena, Margarita Vargas, María Martín, Carmen Tejedor, Encarna Velázquez, Álvaro Peix] Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is an important crop worldwide whose cropping in acid soils is hampered by the poor nodulation and yield commonly attributed to the sensitivity of its endosymbionts to acid pH. In this work, we isolated several acid-tolerant strains from alfalfa nodules in three acid soils in northwestern Spain. After grouping by RAPD fingerprinting, most strains were identified as Ensifer meliloti and only two strains as Ensifer medicae according to their 16S-23S intergenic spacer (ITS) sequences that allowed the differentiation of two groups within each one of these species. The two ITS groups of E. meliloti and the ITS group I of E. medicae have been previously found in Medicago nodules; however, the group II of E. medicae has been only found to date in Prosopis alba nodules. The analysis of the nodC gene showed that all strains isolated in this study belong to the symbiovar meliloti, grouping with the type strains of E. meliloti or E. medicae, but some harboured nodC gene alleles different from those found to date in alfalfa nodules. The strains of E. medicae belong to the symbiovar meliloti which should be also recognised in this species, although they harboured a nodC allele phylogenetically divergent to those from E. meliloti strains. Microcosm experiments showed that inoculation of alfalfa with selected acid-tolerant strains significantly increased yields in acid soils representing a suitable agricultural practice for alfalfa cropping in these soils. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2015 Ensifer nationallicence Alfalfa nationallicence ITS region nationallicence nodC nationallicence Acid soils nationallicence Ramírez-Bahena Martha-Helena Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología (IRNASA-CSIC), Cordel de Merinas 40-52, 37008, Salamanca, Spain aut Vargas Margarita Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología (IRNASA-CSIC), Cordel de Merinas 40-52, 37008, Salamanca, Spain aut Martín María Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología (IRNASA-CSIC), Cordel de Merinas 40-52, 37008, Salamanca, Spain aut Tejedor Carmen Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain aut Velázquez Encarna Unidad Asociada Grupo de Interacción Planta-Microorganismo, Universidad de Salamanca-IRNASA-CSIC, Salamanca, Spain aut Peix Álvaro Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología (IRNASA-CSIC), Cordel de Merinas 40-52, 37008, Salamanca, Spain aut Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Springer Berlin Heidelberg 99/11(2015-06-01), 4855-4865 0175-7598 99:11<4855 2015 99 253 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6347-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6347-6 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ramírez-Bahena Martha-Helena Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología (IRNASA-CSIC), Cordel de Merinas 40-52, 37008, Salamanca, Spain aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Vargas Margarita Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología (IRNASA-CSIC), Cordel de Merinas 40-52, 37008, Salamanca, Spain aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Martín María Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología (IRNASA-CSIC), Cordel de Merinas 40-52, 37008, Salamanca, Spain aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Tejedor Carmen Departamento de Microbiología y Genética, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Velázquez Encarna Unidad Asociada Grupo de Interacción Planta-Microorganismo, Universidad de Salamanca-IRNASA-CSIC, Salamanca, Spain aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Peix Álvaro Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología (IRNASA-CSIC), Cordel de Merinas 40-52, 37008, Salamanca, Spain aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology Springer Berlin Heidelberg 99/11(2015-06-01), 4855-4865 0175-7598 99:11<4855 2015 99 253