Host-Associated Rhizobial Fitness: Dependence on Nitrogen, Density, Community Complexity, and Legume Genotype.

ABSTRACT: The environmental context of the nitrogen-fixing mutualism between leguminous plants and rhizobial bacteria varies over space and time. Variation in resource availability, population density, and composition likely affect the ecology and evolution of rhizobia and their symbiotic interactions with hosts. We examined how host genotype, nitrogen addition, rhizobial density, and community complexity affected selection on 68 rhizobial strains in the Sinorhizobium meliloti-Medicago truncatula mutualism. As expected, host genotype had a substantial effect on the size, number, and strain composition of root nodules (the symbiotic organ). The understudied environmental variable of rhizobial density had a stronger effect on nodule strain frequency than the addition of low nitrogen levels. Hig

SUBMITTER: Burghardt LT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9361818 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature