Distribution and correlation between phylogeny and functional traits of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.)-nodulating microsymbionts from Ghana and South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) is indigenous to Africa, and highly valued for its N2-fixing trait and the nutritional attributes of its grain and leaves. The species' ability to establish effective symbiosis with diverse rhizobial populations gives it survival and growth advantage in N-limited environments. To explore the functional diversity and phylogenetic positions of rhizobia nodulating cowpea in Africa, nodules were collected from various cowpea varieties grown in soils from the Guinea savanna and Sudano-sahelian agroecologies of Northern Ghana, and from the lowveld and middleveld areas of Mpumalanga Province in South Africa. Box-PCR profiling and multilocus sequence analysis revealed the presence of diverse microsymbionts responsible for cowpea nodulation across the study sites

SUBMITTER: Mohammed M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6302100 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature