ABSTRACT
Repetitive(repetitive extragenic palindromic,REP,and enterobaterial repetitive intergenic consensus,ERIC) sequences in conjunction with polymerase chain reaction technique(REP and ERIC PCR) were used to fingerprint the genomes of 27 isolates of indigenous soybean rhizobia from Xinjiang.The indigenous soybean rhizobia in Xinjiang can be clustered into relative genetic similarities of approximately 0.5,of which one group mainly includes all slow-growing rhizobia,another mainly includes all fast-growing stains. REP and ERIC PCR analysis demonstrate a substantial genetic variability within members of Xinjiang indigenous soybean rhizobial populations, which reveals that genetic similarities have certain geographical correlation, and isolates from the same site have relative higher similarities.The results show that REP and ERIC PCR analysis give effective means in genetic diversity and population structure analysis of soybean rhizobia.