Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Molecular Biology Reports https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-018-4506-z ORIGINAL ARTICLE Phylogenetic diversity of rhizobia nodulating native Mimosa gymnas grown in a South Brazilian ecotone Fabiane Paulitsch 1  · Milena Serenato Klepa 1  · Adriane Ribeiro da Silva 2  · Marta Regina Barrotto do Carmo 3  · Rebeca Fuzinatto Dall’Agnol 4  · Jakeline Renata Marçon Delamuta 4  · Mariangela Hungria 4  · Jesiane Stefania da Silva Batista 1 Received: 30 August 2018 / Accepted: 15 November 2018 © Springer Nature B.V. 2018 Abstract Floristic surveys performed in “Campos Gerais” (Paraná, Brazil), an ecotone of Mata Atlântica and Cerrado biomes, high- lights the richness and relative abundance of the family Fabaceae and point out the diversity and endemism of Mimosa spp. Our study reports the genetic diversity of rhizobia isolated from root nodules of native/endemic Mimosa gymnas Barneby in three areas of Guartelá State Park, an important conservation unit of “Campos Gerais”. Soils of the sample areas were characterized as sandy, acid, poor in nutrients and organic matter. The genetic variability among the isolates was revealed by BOX-PCR genomic fngerprinting. Phylogeny based on 16S rRNA gene grouped the strains in a large cluster including Paraburkholderia nodosa and P. bannensis, while recA-gyrB phylogeny separated the strains in two groups: one including P. nodosa and the other without any described Paraburkholderia species. MLSA confrmed the separate position of this second group of strains within the genus Paraburkholderia and the nucleotide identity of the fve concatened housekeeping genes was 95.9% in relation to P. nodosa BR 3437 T . Phylogram based on symbiosis-essential nodC gene was in agreement with 16S rRNA analysis. Our molecular phylogenetic analysis support that Paraburkholderia are the main symbionts of native Mimosa in specifc edaphic conditions found in South America and reveal the importance of endemic/native leguminous plants as reservoirs of novel rhizobial species. Keywords 16S rRNA · Betaproteobacteria · Burkholderia · Fabaceae · Genetic diversity · Symbiosis Introduction Campos Gerais, a phytogeographic area located in the state of Paraná, southern Brazil, comprises an area of 11.761,41 Km 2 and has characteristics of an ecotone, with transition zones among the biomes, where attributes of adjacent regions are combined resulting in a singular pro- fle, with particular species richness and endemism [1–4]. Considered as a component of the Atlantic Forest (“Mata Atlântica”) biome, the area comprises the austral limit of the Cerrado biome, represented by disjunct remnants in locations with strong pressure of agriculture and silvicul- ture expansion [1]. Both biomes are considered biodiver- sity hotspots [1, 5]. The Atlantic Forest contains remaining fragments which represent only 12% of the original area, that still encompass high diversity and endemic plant spe- cies [6], accounting with more than 20,000 plant species, 8000 of which are considered endemic [7]. Cerrado com- prises almost 20% of the national territory with soils often Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-018-4506-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Jesiane Stefania da Silva Batista jesiane.batista@uepg.br; jesiane.batista@gmail.com; jesiane.batista@pq.cnpq.br 1 Departamento de Biologia Estrutural, Molecular e Genética, Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, Avenida General Carlos Cavalcanti, 4748 – Uvaranas, C.P. 6001, Ponta Grossa, PR 84030-900, Brazil 2 Depto. de Engenharia Florestal, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Av. Pref. Lothário Meissner, 900, Curitiba 80210-170, PR, Brazil 3 Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, C.P. 6001, Ponta Grossa, PR 84030-900, Brazil 4 Embrapa Soja, C.P. 231, Londrina, PR 86001-970, Brazil