Molecular Characterization of Indigenous Rhizobia from Kenyan Soils Nodulating with Common Beans

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dc.contributor.authorWekesa, Clabe
dc.contributor.authorKiprotich, Kelvin
dc.contributor.authorOkoth, Patrick
dc.contributor.authorAsudi, George O.
dc.contributor.authorMuoma, John O.
dc.contributor.authorFurch, Alexandra C. U.
dc.contributor.authorOelmüller, Ralf
dc.date.accessioned2024-01-30T13:12:00Z
dc.date.available2024-01-30T13:12:00Z
dc.date.issued2023-05
dc.descriptionArticleen_US
dc.description.abstractKenya is the seventh most prominent producer of common beans globally and the second leading producer in East Africa. However, the annual national productivity is low due to insufficient quantities of vital nutrients and nitrogen in the soils. Rhizobia are symbiotic bacteria that fix nitrogen through their interaction with leguminous plants. Nevertheless, inoculating beans with commercial rhizobia inoculants results in sparse nodulation and low nitrogen supply to the host plants because these strains are poorly adapted to the local soils. Several studies describe native rhizobia with much better symbiotic capabilities than commercial strains, but only a few have conducted field studies. This study aimed to test the competence of new rhizobia strains that we isolated from Western Kenya soils and for which the symbiotic efficiency was successfully determined in greenhouse experiments. Furthermore, we present and analyze the whole-genome sequence for a promising candidate for agricultural application, which has high nitrogen fixation features and promotes common bean yields in field studies. Plants inoculated with the rhizobial isolate S3 or with a consortium of local isolates (COMB), including S3, produced a significantly higher number of seeds and seed dry weight when compared to uninoculated control plants at two study sites. The performance of plants inoculated with commercial isolate CIAT899 was not significantly different from uninoculated plants (p > 0.05), indicating tight competition from native rhizobia for nodule occupancy. Pangenome analysis and the overall genome-related indices showed that S3 is a member of R. phaseoli. However, synteny analysis revealed significant differences in the gene order, orientation, and copy numbers between S3 and the reference R. phaseoli. Isolate S3 is phylogenomically similar to R. phaseoli. However, it has undergone significant genome rearrangements (global mutagenesis) to adapt to harsh conditions in Kenyan soils. Its high nitrogen fixation ability shows optimal adaptation to Kenyan soils, and the strain can potentially replace nitrogenous fertilizer application. We recommend that extensive fieldwork in other parts of the country over a period of five years be performed on S3 to check on how the yield changes with varying whether conditions.en_US
dc.identifier.citation: Wekesa, C.; Kiprotich, K.; Okoth, P.; Asudi, G.O.; Muoma, J.O.; Furch, A.C.U.; Oelmüller, R. Molecular Characterization of Indigenous Rhizobia from Kenyan Soils Nodulating with Common Beans. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 9509. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24119509en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/11/9509
dc.identifier.urihttps://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/27342
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publishermdipen_US
dc.subjectrhizobiaen_US
dc.subjectsymbiotic potentialen_US
dc.subjectpangenomeen_US
dc.subjectsyntenyen_US
dc.subjectcomparative genomicsen_US
dc.titleMolecular Characterization of Indigenous Rhizobia from Kenyan Soils Nodulating with Common Beansen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
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