Phenotypic, genetic and symbiotic characterization of Erythrina velutina rhizobia from Caatinga dry forest

Abstract Erythrina velutina ("mulungu") is a legume tree from Caatinga that associates with rhizobia but the diversity and symbiotic ability of "mulungu" rhizobia are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to characterize "mulungu" rhizobia from Caatinga. Bacteria were obteined from Serra Talhada and Caruaru in Caatinga under natural regeneration. The bacteria were evaluated to the amplification of nifH and nodC and to metabolic characteristics. Ten selected bacteria identified by 16S rRNA sequences. They were tested in vitro to NaCl and temperature tolerance, auxin production and calcium phosphate solubilization. The symbiotic ability were assessed in an greenhouse experiment. A total of 32 bacteria were obtained and 17 amplified both symbiotic genes. The bacteria showed a high variable metabolic profile. Bradyrhizobium (6), Rhizobium (3) and Paraburkholderia (1) were identified, differing from their geographic origin. The isolates grew up to 45 °C to 0.51 mol L-1 of NaCl. Bacteria which produced more auxin in the medium with l-tryptophan and two Rhizobium and one Bradyrhizobium were phosphate solubilizers. All bacteria nodulated and ESA 90 (Rhizobium sp.) plus ESA 96 (Paraburkholderia sp.) were more efficient symbiotically. Diverse and efficient rhizobia inhabit the soils of Caatinga dry forests, with the bacterial differentiation by the sampling sites.

Diazotrophic bacteria isolated from wild rice Oryza glumaepatula (Poaceae) in the Brazilian Amazon / Bacterias diazotróficas aisladas de arroz silvestre Oryza glumaepatula (Poaceae) en la Amazonia brasileña

The association of wild grasses with diazotrophic bacteria in Brazilian biomes is poorly understood. The isolation and characterization of bacteria associated with wild grasses can contribute to understand the diazotrophic ecology as well as to identify bacteria with biotechnological applications. In this study, we isolated and characterized diazotrophic bacterial isolates from Oryza glumaepatula collected in Cerrado and Forest areas of the Amazon in Roraima State, Brazil. Healthy O. glumepatula plants were collected at five sampling sites at Forest and seven at Cerrado, respectively. The plants were collected at the Cerrado areas in September 2008 while the Forest plants were collected in June/2008 and April/2009. The plants and the soil adhering to the roots were transferred to pots and grown for 35 days in greenhouse conditions. During the harvest, the shoots and the roots were crushed separately in a saline solution; the suspension was diluted serially and inoculated in Petri dishes containing Dyg’s medium. All distinct bacterial colonies were purified in the same medium. The diazotrophic capacity of each bacterium in microaerophilic conditions was assessed in semisolid BMGM medium. In addition, the pellicles forming bacterial isolates were also evaluated by PCR amplification for nifH gene. The diversity of nifH+ bacteria was analyzed by Box-PCR fingerprinting. For selected strains, the growth promoting capacity of O. sativa as a model plant was also evaluated. A total of 992 bacterial isolates were obtained. Fifty- one bacteria were able to form pellicles in the semisolid medium and 38 also positively amplified the 360bp nifH gene fragment. Among the 38 nifH+ isolates, 24 were obtained from the shoots, while 14 originated from the roots. The Box-PCR profiles showed that the bacterial isolates obtained in this study presented a low similarity with the reference strains belonging to the Herbaspirillum, Azospirillum and Burkholderia genus. The growth- promoting ability was confirmed for at least five isolates. For these bacteria, the root and shoot growing results showed higher increases when compared to those observed in plants inoculated with the evaluated reference strains. These results indicate that O. glumaepatula is colonized by a high diverse diazotrophic community in the Brazilian Amazon. Further investigations are now being carried out to determine the taxonomic positions of these isolates and their growth promoting mechanisms.

La asociación de gramíneas silvestres con bacterias diazotróficas en los biomas brasileños es poco conocida. El aislamiento y caracterización de las bacterias asociadas con gramíneas silvestres puede contribuir a entender la ecología de las diazotróficas y bacterias con aplicaciones biotecnológicas. En este estudio, caracterizamos aislamientos bacterianos de diazotróficas de Oryza glumaepatula recolectadas en Cerrado y zonas boscosas de la Amazonía en el estado de Roraima, Brasil. Plantas sanas de O. glumepatula fueron recolectadas en cinco zonas boscosas y siete en Cerrado. Las plantas de Cerrado fueron recolectadas en septiembre 2008, mientras que las del bosque en Junio 2008 y Abril 2009. Las plantas y el suelo adherido a las raíces se transfirieron a macetas y se cultivaron durante 35 días en condiciones de invernadero. Durante la cosecha, los brotes y las raíces se trituraron por separado en una solución salina, la suspensión se diluyó en serie y se inocularon en placas Petri que contenían medio Dyg. Todas las colonias de bacterias se purificaron en el mismo medio. Se evaluó la capacidad diazotrófica de cada bacteria en condiciones microaerofílicas en medio semisólido BMGM. Además, los aislamientos bacterianos que formaron películas se evaluaron también mediante amplificación por PCR para el gen nifH. La diversidad de bacterias nifH+ se analizó por Huella Genética utilizando la Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa. Para las cepas seleccionadas, la capacidad de promover el crecimiento de O. sativa como modelo de planta también se evaluó. Se obtuvo un total de 992 cepas bacterianas. Cincuenta y un bacterias fueron capaces de formar películas en el medio semisólido y 38 amplificaron positivamente el fragmento 360bp del gen nifH. De los 38 aislamientos de nifH+, 24 fueron obtenidos de los brotes, mientras que 14 se originaron a partir de las raíces. Los perfiles de PCR-Box mostraron que los aislamientos bacterianos obtenidos en este estudio presentaron una baja similitud con las cepas de referencia pertenecientes a Herbaspirillum, Azospirillum y el género Burkholderia. La capacidad promotora del crecimiento fue confirmada por al menos cinco aislamientos. Para esta bacteria, la raíz y brote mostraron resultados de crecimiento mayores en comparación con los observados en las plantas inoculadas con las cepas de referencia. Estos resultados indican que O. glumaepatula es colonizada por una muy diversa comunidad diazotrófica en la Amazonia brasileña. Se están llevando a cabo otras investigaciones para esclarecer la taxonomía de estas cepas y sus mecanismos para promover el crecimiento.

Phenotypic diversity and amylolytic activity of fast growing rhizobia from pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L) Millsp]

This study evaluated 26 pigeonpea rhizobial isolates according to their cultural characteristics, intrinsic antibiotic resistance, salt and temperature tolerance, carbon source utilization and amylolytic activity. The cultural characterization showed that the majority of them presented the ability to acidify the YMA. Among the 27 isolates evaluated, 25 were able to grow when incubated at 42° C and 11 showed tolerance to 3% (w/v) of NaCl in YMA medium. The patterns of carbon sources utilization was very diverse among the isolates. It was observed the capacity of three strains to metabolize all the carbon sources evaluated and a total of 42% of the bacterial isolates was able to grow in the culture medium supplemented with at least, six carbon sources. The carbon sources mannitol (control) and sucrose were metabilized by all isolates evaluated. The profile of intrinsic resistance to antibiotics showed that the isolates were mostly resistant to streptomycin and ampicillin, but susceptible to kanamycin and chloranphenicol. High amylolytic activity of, at least, four isolates was also demonstrated, especially for isolated 47.3b, which showed the highest enzymatic index. These results indicate the metabolic versatility of the pigeonpea rhizobia, and indicates the isolate 47.3b to further studies regarding the amylase production and characterization.