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Data from: Galega orientalis is more diverse than Galega officinalis in Caucasus – whole-genome AFLP analysis and phylogenetics of symbiosis-related genes

Cite this dataset

Österman, Janina et al. (2011). Data from: Galega orientalis is more diverse than Galega officinalis in Caucasus – whole-genome AFLP analysis and phylogenetics of symbiosis-related genes [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.p72p0

Abstract

Legume plants can obtain combined nitrogen for their growth in an efficient way through symbiosis with specific bacteria. The symbiosis between Rhizobium galegae and its host plant Galega is an interesting case where the plant species G. orientalis and G. officinalis form effective, nitrogen fixing, symbioses only with the appropriate rhizobial counterpart, R. galegae bv. orientalis and R. galegae bv. officinalis respectively. There is plenty of information available on the symbiotic properties of nitrogen fixing rhizobia, while more information is needed on the properties of the host plants. The Caucasus region in Eurasia has been identified as the gene centre (centre of origin) of G. orientalis, although both G. orientalis and G. officinalis can be found in this region. In this study, the diversity of these two Galega species in Caucasus was investigated to test the hypothesis that in this region G. orientalis is more diverse than G. officinalis. The amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) fingerprinting performed here showed that the populations of G. orientalis and R. galegae bv. orientalis are more diverse than those of G. officinalis and R. galegae bv. officinalis respectively. These results are consistent with the centre of origin status of Caucasus for G. orientalis. Phylogenies of the symbiosis-related plant genes NORK and Nfr5 were congruent with the AFLP result from a diversity point of view. Finally, the results of this work indicate that the NORK and Nfr5 genes of Galega follow the same evolutionary pattern as conserved plant genes.

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