Morphological and Genetic Diversity of Rhizobia Nodulating Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) from Agricultural Soils of Lower Eastern Kenya
Limited nitrogen (N) content in the soil is a major challenge to sustainable and high crop production in many developing countries. The nitrogen fixing symbiosis of legumes with rhizobia plays an important role in supplying sufficient N for legumes and subsequent nonleguminous crops. To identify rhi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2017-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Microbiology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/8684921 |
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| author | Damaris K. Ondieki Evans N. Nyaboga John M. Wagacha Francis B. Mwaura |
| author_facet | Damaris K. Ondieki Evans N. Nyaboga John M. Wagacha Francis B. Mwaura |
| author_sort | Damaris K. Ondieki |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Limited nitrogen (N) content in the soil is a major challenge to sustainable and high crop production in many developing countries. The nitrogen fixing symbiosis of legumes with rhizobia plays an important role in supplying sufficient N for legumes and subsequent nonleguminous crops. To identify rhizobia strains which are suitable for bioinoculant production, characterization of rhizobia is a prerequisite. The objective of this study was to assess the morphological and genetic diversity of rhizobia that nodulates cowpea in agricultural soils of lower eastern Kenya. Twenty-eight rhizobia isolates were recovered from soil samples collected from farmers’ fields in Machakos, Makueni, and Kitui counties in lower eastern Kenya and characterized based on morphological characteristics. Thirteen representative isolates were selected and characterized using BOX repetitive element PCR fingerprinting. Based on the dendrogram generated from morphological characteristics, the test isolates were distributed into two major clusters at a similarity of 75%. Phylogenetic tree, based on BOX repetitive element PCR, grouped the isolates into two clusters at 90% similarity level. The clustering of the isolates did not show a relationship to the origin of soil samples, although the isolates were genetically diverse. This study is a prerequisite to the selection of suitable cowpea rhizobia to develop bioinoculants for sustainable crop production in Kenya. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-251b05ac26c74a7e90454dcbcfbabc85 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1687-918X 1687-9198 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj-art-251b05ac26c74a7e90454dcbcfbabc852025-08-20T02:04:30ZengWileyInternational Journal of Microbiology1687-918X1687-91982017-01-01201710.1155/2017/86849218684921Morphological and Genetic Diversity of Rhizobia Nodulating Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) from Agricultural Soils of Lower Eastern KenyaDamaris K. Ondieki0Evans N. Nyaboga1John M. Wagacha2Francis B. Mwaura3School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197-00100, Nairobi, KenyaDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197-00100, Nairobi, KenyaSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197-00100, Nairobi, KenyaSchool of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi, P.O. Box 30197-00100, Nairobi, KenyaLimited nitrogen (N) content in the soil is a major challenge to sustainable and high crop production in many developing countries. The nitrogen fixing symbiosis of legumes with rhizobia plays an important role in supplying sufficient N for legumes and subsequent nonleguminous crops. To identify rhizobia strains which are suitable for bioinoculant production, characterization of rhizobia is a prerequisite. The objective of this study was to assess the morphological and genetic diversity of rhizobia that nodulates cowpea in agricultural soils of lower eastern Kenya. Twenty-eight rhizobia isolates were recovered from soil samples collected from farmers’ fields in Machakos, Makueni, and Kitui counties in lower eastern Kenya and characterized based on morphological characteristics. Thirteen representative isolates were selected and characterized using BOX repetitive element PCR fingerprinting. Based on the dendrogram generated from morphological characteristics, the test isolates were distributed into two major clusters at a similarity of 75%. Phylogenetic tree, based on BOX repetitive element PCR, grouped the isolates into two clusters at 90% similarity level. The clustering of the isolates did not show a relationship to the origin of soil samples, although the isolates were genetically diverse. This study is a prerequisite to the selection of suitable cowpea rhizobia to develop bioinoculants for sustainable crop production in Kenya.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/8684921 |
| spellingShingle | Damaris K. Ondieki Evans N. Nyaboga John M. Wagacha Francis B. Mwaura Morphological and Genetic Diversity of Rhizobia Nodulating Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) from Agricultural Soils of Lower Eastern Kenya International Journal of Microbiology |
| title | Morphological and Genetic Diversity of Rhizobia Nodulating Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) from Agricultural Soils of Lower Eastern Kenya |
| title_full | Morphological and Genetic Diversity of Rhizobia Nodulating Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) from Agricultural Soils of Lower Eastern Kenya |
| title_fullStr | Morphological and Genetic Diversity of Rhizobia Nodulating Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) from Agricultural Soils of Lower Eastern Kenya |
| title_full_unstemmed | Morphological and Genetic Diversity of Rhizobia Nodulating Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) from Agricultural Soils of Lower Eastern Kenya |
| title_short | Morphological and Genetic Diversity of Rhizobia Nodulating Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) from Agricultural Soils of Lower Eastern Kenya |
| title_sort | morphological and genetic diversity of rhizobia nodulating cowpea vigna unguiculata l from agricultural soils of lower eastern kenya |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/8684921 |
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