Deep sequencing of the cryptic plasmid mobilome in the symbiotic bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti

LÓPEZ, JOSÉ; GIUSTI, M. ANGELES; MARTINI, M. CARLA; TORRES TEJERIZO, GONZALO; LOZANO, MAURICIO; SALAS, M. EUGENIA; SALTO, ILEANA; PUHLER, ALFRED; DEL PAPA, M. FLORENCIA; SCHLUTER, ANDREAS; PISTORIO, MARIANO; LAGARES, ANTONIO

Santander

Conferencia; International Plasmid Biology Conference 2012?, International Society for Plasmid Biology; 2012

Background and aims. Rhizobia are alfa- and beta- proteobacteria that inhabit soils, and are able to establish specific N2-fixing symbioses with legumes. Current information shows that rhizobia are significantly diverse including different bacterial genera, and that in several cases bear significant amounts of plasmid DNA ranging from few kilobases to megabases in size. Many of those plasmids are currently being characterized at the molecular level, and show to be active vectors for horizontal gene transfer (HGT) in the processes of rhizobial diversification/speciation (Cervantes et al. 2011; Torres Tejerizo et al. 2011).