High and low nodulation in relation to molecular diversity of chickpea mesorhizobia in Indian soils

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) nodulation variants of two cultivars ICC 4948 and ICC 5003 were used as trap plants to isolate 385 native rhizobia from CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar farm soil. After authentication and considering growth characteristics, selected 110 rhizobia revealed immense molecular diversity using the profiles of DNA fragments generated by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with enterobacterial repetitive intergeneric consensus (ERIC) sequences. Low nodulating variants of cvs ICC 4948 and ICC 5003 were able to trap more numbers of rhizobial genotypes, namely seven as compared four to five by high nodulating variants of these cultivars. Overall eight rhizobial genotypes were trapped by the chickpea cultivars. Rhizobial isolates from same nodule or same plants were present in the same or different clusters and few isolates showed 100% similarity also. Based on nodules from a plant, nodulation variant or cultivar, rhizobia could not be differentiated and no exclusive cluster was formed by either rhizobial isolates from low or high nodulating variants of both the cultivars. Two most efficient rhizobial isolates LN 707b and LN 7007 were characterized by amplification and sequencing of 16S rRNA gene. Rhizobial isolate LN 707b showed more than 98% similarity with Mesorhizobium sp SH 2851 and Mesorhizobium mediterraneum. Another isolate LN 7007 showed more than 99% similarity with the sequence of 16S r RNA gene of Mesorhizobium sp STM 398, and M. mediterraneum. So the chickpea rhizobia from Northern Indian subcontinent are proposed to be kept under M. mediterraneum strain LN707b and LN 7007.