What is it about?
Rooibos (Aspalathus linearis) is an indigenous legume in South Africa, used to make the famous rooibos tea. We showed for the first time that this indigenous beverage legume is nodulated by both the beta and alpha subclass of Proteobacteria. Previously this legume was presumed to be nodulated by the slow growing Bradyrhizobia.
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Why is it important?
Unique about our work is that, in many cases nodulation and nitrogen fixation in a given legume occurs by a unique group ( often a single species) of rhizobium. This indigenous legume is however promiscously nodulated by Rhizobium, Mesorhizobium and even Burkholderia species
Perspectives
The publication of this article is the first to introduce the occurrence of both beta and alpha rhizobia in the nodules of this indigenous legume in South Africa. It thus paves the way for more research on the symbiotic interaction that exist between the two partners and for further investigations to search for elite strains for use in the manufacturing of commercial inoculants for this legume.
Ahmed Idris Hassen
Agricultural Research Council
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Nodulation of rooibos (Aspalathus linearis Burm. f.), an indigenous South African legume, by members of both the α-Proteobacteria and β-Proteobacteria, Biology and Fertility of Soils, October 2011, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/s00374-011-0628-3.
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