Ensifer meliloti bv. lancerottense establishes nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with Lotus endemic to the Canary Islands and shows distinctive symbiotic genotypes and host range

Eleven strains were isolated from root nodules of Lotus endemic to the Canary Islands and they belonged to the genus Ensifer, a genus never previously described as a symbiont of Lotus. According to their 16S rRNA and atpD gene sequences, two isolates represented minority genotypes that could belong to previously undescribed Ensifer species, but most of the isolates were classified within the species Ensifer meliloti. These isolates nodulated Lotus lancerottensis, Lotus corniculatus and Lotus japonicus, whereas Lotus tenuis and Lotus uliginosus were more restrictive hosts. However, effective nitrogen fixation only occurred with the endemic L. lancerottensis. The E. meliloti strains did not nodulate Medicago sativa, Medicago laciniata Glycine max or Glycine soja, but induced non-fixing nodules on Phaseolus vulgaris roots. nodC and nifH symbiotic gene phylogenies showed that the E. meliloti symbionts of Lotus markedly diverged from strains of Mesorhizobium loti, the usual symbionts of Lotus, as well as from the three biovars (bv. meliloti, bv. medicaginis, and bv. mediterranense) so far described within E. meliloti. Indeed, the nodC and nifH genes from the E. meliloti isolates from Lotus represented unique symbiotic genotypes. According to their symbiotic gene sequences and host range, the Lotus symbionts would represent a new biovar of E. meliloti for which bv. lancerottense is proposed.