Phylogenetic Analysis of Soybean‐Nodulating Rhizobia Isolated from Alkaline Soils in Vietnam

In order to analyze the phylogeny of soybean-nodulating bacteria in alkaline soils in Vietnam, indigenous soybean-nodulating bacteria were isolated from root nodules by cultivating three kinds of Rj-soybean cultivars on two alkaline soils in Vietnam. The 120 isolates were classified into two major genera of soybean-nodulating rhizobia, namely Bradyrhizobium and Sinorhizobium genera, based on a growth analysis on medium and PCR-RFLP analyses of 16S rDNA and of the 16S–23S rDNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Most of the isolates of B. japonicum were extra-slow-growing and their ITS types were similar to that of B. japonicum USDA 135. They were not isolated from the soybean cultivar CNS used as Rj2Rj3 genotype. Isolates of Sinorhizobium were divided into two groups, S. fredii and S. sp., based on a PCR-RFLP analysis of 16S rDNA. Furthermore, PCR-RFLP analysis of the 16S–23S rDNA ITS region enabled to separate them into five types, three ITS types associated with S. fredii and two with S. sp. Sinor...