GENE TRANSFER IN THE ENVIRONMENT PROMOTES THE RAPID EVOLUTION OF A DIVERSITY OF SUBOPTIMAL AND COMPETITIVE RHIZOBIA FOR BISERRULA PELECWUS L.

摘要

The emergence of biodiversity in rhizobia after the introduction of exotic legumes and their respective rhizobia to new regions is a challenge for contemporary rhizobiology. Biserrula pelecinm L. is a pasture legume species that was introduced to Australia from the Mediterranean basin and which is having a substantial impact on agricultural productivity on acidic and sandy soils of Western Australia and New South Wales (Howieson et al., 2000). This deep-rooted plant is also valuable in reducing the development of dryland salinity. This legume is nodulated by a specific group of root-nodule bacteria that belongs to Mesorhizobium (Nandasena et al., 2001, 2007).