Diversity and Phylogeny of Symbiotic Bacteria Nodulating Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Côte d’Ivoire

Phaseolus vulgaris L. (common bean) is an agriculturally important legume that benefits from a symbiosis with bacteria belonging to the genus Rhizobium. Growing interest in the use of rhizobia as biofertilizers has led to the identification of a large number of rhizobia strains and studies of their diversity. Although much research has been carried out on rhizobia, there is little data on the diversity of rhizobia associated with common bean in Côte d'Ivoire. This study assessed the species diversity of common bean nodulating bacteria in ivorian soils. This diversity was assessed based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Ten high-performance bacterial isolates extracted from common bean nodules were used for genetic analysis. The 16S rRNA gene sequences of the native isolates were closely affiliated with members of the genera Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Allorhizobium and Sinorhizobium demonstrating the presence of a diversity of native bean nodule bacteria. This study also reports for the first time the presence of Allorhizobium taibaishanense in common bean nodules. These results constitute an important step in the development of an effective microbial inoculum and sustainable food production.