Genotypic characterization of Bradyrhizobium strains nodulating small Senegalese legumes by 16S-23S rRNA intergenic gene spacers and amplified fragment length polymorphism fingerprint analyses

ABSTRACT We examined the genotypic diversity of 64 Bradyrhizobium strains isolated from nodules from 27 native leguminous plant species in Senegal (West Africa) belonging to the genera Abrus , Alysicarpus , Bryaspis , Chamaecrista , Cassia , Crotalaria , Desmodium , Eriosema , Indigofera , Moghania , Rhynchosia , Sesbania , Tephrosia , and Zornia , which play an ecological role and have agronomic potential in arid regions. The strains were characterized by intergenic spacer (between 16S and 23S rRNA genes) PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (IGS PCR-RFLP) and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting analyses. Fifty-three reference strains of the different B…