Partially Updated 14th September 2009
The species listed here are all of the most current validly published names for the rhizobia, which currently consists of 76 species found in 13 genera. Rhizobia are nitrogen-fixing bacteria that form root nodules on legume plants. Most of these bacterial species are in the Rhizobiacae family in the alpha-proteobacteria and are in either the Rhizobium, Mesorhizobium, Ensifer, or Bradyrhizobium genera. However recent research has shown that there are many other rhizobial species in addition to these. In some cases these new species have arisen through lateral gene transfer of symbiotic genes.
Taxonomy is a complicated and ever-changing discipline of science, the list below is not "official" by any means, and it is merely my compilation and interpretation of the literature. An alternative list is maintained by the "ICSP Subcommittee on the taxonomy of Rhizobium and Agrobacterium".
It is important to note that there are other non-rhizobial species present in these genera. For example in the Rhizobium genus, there is Rhizobium radiobacter — formerly known as Agrobacterium tumefaciens. However these species are not listed here, as the 'Agrobacteria' do not form nitrogen fixing symbiotic root nodules (unless they contain a symbiotic plasmid – see Velazquez et. al. 2005). I have another page about these bacteria that could be confused with 'true' rhizobia.
To see all of the currently valid members of a genus, including non-rhizobial species, click on the name of the genus in the text after each title. This will take you to the LPSN website.
This page was compiled from my own research; a paper by J.G. Howieson and J. Brockwell presented at the 14th Australian Nitrogen Fixation Conference, and the NCBI and LPSN websites.
This page is updated regularly. If you know of any additions or corrections please email me. I do try to keep up, but I am working on different projects now. I have added a changelog so you can see difference between updates: change log
If you wish you can cite this page as:
Weir, B.S. (2009) The current taxonomy of rhizobia. New Zealand rhizobia website.
http://www.rhizobia.co.nz/taxonomy/rhizobia.html. Last updated: 14th September, 2009. (check green box
above for latest update date)
The genus Rhizobium (Frank 1889) was
the first named (from Latin meaning root living), and for many years this was a 'catch all' genus for all
rhizobia. Some species were later moved in to new genera based on phylogenetic analyses. It currently
consists of 22 species.
|
Rhizobium cellulosilyticum |
New. ( García-Fraile et. al. 2007) |
|
Rhizobium daejeonense |
|
|
Rhizobium etli |
|
| Rhizobium galegae | |
| Rhizobium gallicum | |
| Rhizobium giardinii | |
| Rhizobium hainanense | |
| Rhizobium huautlense | |
|
Rhizobium indigoferae |
|
|
Rhizobium leguminosarum |
Type species. See note below |
|
Rhizobium loessense |
formerly "Rhizobium huanglingense" |
|
Rhizobium lusitanum |
|
|
Rhizobium miluonense |
New. Gu et. al. (2008) |
| Rhizobium mongolense | |
| Rhizobium multihospitium | New. Han et. al. (2008) |
| Rhizobium oryzae | New. Peng et. al. (2008) |
| Rhizobium phaseoli | Confirmed as a species. Ramirez-Bahena et. al. (2008) |
| Rhizobium pisi | New. Ramirez-Bahena et. al. (2008) |
|
Rhizobium sullae |
formerly "Rhizobium hedysari" |
| Rhizobium tropici | |
| Rhizobium undicola | formerly Allorhizobium undicola |
| Rhizobium yanglingense |
Note that Rhizobium trifolii is a later synonym of R. leguminosarum. R. phaseoli is a valid separate species, and some isolates formerly known as R. leguminosarum are now R. pisi. (Ramirez-Bahena et. al. 2008)
The genus Mesorhizobium was described by Jarvis et al. in 1997. Several species were moved from Rhizobium to this genus.It currently consists of 19 species.
| Mesorhizobium albiziae | Wang et. al., 2007 |
| Mesorhizobium alhagi | New Chen et. al., 2009 |
| Mesorhizobium amorphae | |
| Mesorhizobium australicum | New (Nandasena et. al., 2009) |
| Mesorhizobium caraganae | Wang et. al., 2007 |
| Mesorhizobium chacoense | |
| Mesorhizobium ciceri | formerly Rhizobium ciceri |
| Mesorhizobium gobiense | Han et. al., 2008b |
| Mesorhizobium huakuii | formerly Rhizobium huakuii |
| Mesorhizobium loti | formerly Rhizobium loti, Type species |
| Mesorhizobium mediterraneum | formerly Rhizobium mediterraneum |
| Mesorhizobium metallidurans | Vidal et. al. (2009) |
| Mesorhizobium opportunistum | New Nandasena et. al., 2009 |
| Mesorhizobium plurifarium | |
|
Mesorhizobium shangrilense |
New Lu et. al., 2009 |
|
Mesorhizobium septentrionale |
(ref) |
|
Mesorhizobium tarimense |
Han et. al., 2008b |
|
Mesorhizobium temperatum |
(ref) |
| Mesorhizobium tianshanense | formerly Rhizobium tianshanense |
The Sinorhizobium genus was described by Chen et al. in 1988. However some recent studies show that Sinorhizobium and the genus Ensifer (Casida, 1982) belong to a single taxon. Ensifer is the earlier heterotypic synonym (it was named first) and thus takes priority (Young, 2003). This means that all Sinorhizobium spp. must be renamed as Ensifer spp. according to the Bacteriological code. The taxonomy of this genus was verified in 2007 by Martens et. al. Read their paper for a more detailed explanation. The genus currently consists of 15 species.
|
Ensifer abri |
D |
|
Ensifer americanum |
|
| Ensifer arboris | |
| Ensifer fredii | formerly Rhizobium fredii, Type species |
| Ensifer indiaense | D |
| Ensifer kostiense | |
| Ensifer kummerowiae | |
| Ensifer medicae | |
| Ensifer meliloti | formerly Rhizobium meliloti |
| Ensifer mexicanus | New (Lloret et. al. 2007) |
| 'Sinorhizobium morelense' | E |
|
Ensifer adhaerens |
A |
|
Ensifer saheli |
B |
|
Ensifer terangae |
C |
| Ensifer xinjiangense |
A - This name is a earlier heterotypic synonym of Sinorhizobium morelense (see
Young, 2003)
B - This species is also known as Sinorhizobium sahelense (why?)
C - This species is incorrectly known as Sinorhizobium teranga
D - Although these species have been published (Ogasawara, et. al. 2003), they
have not yet been included in the "Validation List" of the International Journal of Systematic and
Evolutionary Microbiology.
E - This species is distinct from Ensifer adhaerens but cannot yet be named
Ensifer. See Martens et. al. 2007 for details.
The Bradyrhizobium genus was described by Jordan in 1982. It currently consists of 8 species.
|
Bradyrhizobium canariense |
|
| Bradyrhizobium elkanii | |
| Bradyrhizobium iriomotense | New (Islam et. al., 2008) |
| Bradyrhizobium japonicum | formerly Rhizobium japonicum, Type species |
| Bradyrhizobium jicamae | New (Ramírez-Bahena et. al., 2009) |
| Bradyrhizobium liaoningense | |
| Bradyrhizobium pachyrhizi | New (Ramírez-Bahena et. al., 2009) |
|
Bradyrhizobium yuanmingense |
The Azorhizobium genus was described by Dreyfus et al. in 1988. It currently consists of 2 species.
| Azorhizobium caulinodans | Type species |
| Azorhizobium doebereinerae | formerly Azorhizobium johannae |
The Methylobacterium genus currently contains only one rhizobial species.
|
Methylobacterium nodulans |
The Burkholderia genus currently contains seven named rhizobial members and others as Burkholderia sp.
| Burkholderia caribensis | |
| Burkholderia cepacia | * see note below |
| Burkholderia mimosarum | New |
| Burkholderia nodosa | New Chen et al (2007) |
| Burkholderia phymatum | |
| Burkholderia sabiae | New Chen et al (2008) |
| Burkholderia tuberum |
Note that although Burkholderia cepacia is considered to nodulate by Rasolomampianina et al. 2005. Mol. Ecol. 14:4135 and Vandamme et al. 2002. Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 25:507, Vandamme et al. 2007 (chapter 1, page 7) notes that recent experiments revealed that nodA and nif genes are not longer detected on these strains and he suggests that the strains lost the characteristic, or the original observation was based on experimental error. Thank you Paulina Estrada de los Santos for this observation.
Cupriavidus formerly Wautersia, formerly Ralstonia, has recently undergone several taxonomic revisions. This genus currently contains a single rhizobial species.
| Cupriavidus taiwanensis |
The Devosia genus currently contains only a single rhizobial species.
| Devosia neptuniae |
The Herbaspirillum genus currently contains a single rhizobial species.
| Herbaspirillum lusitanum |
The Ochrobactrum genus currently contains two rhizobial species.
| Ochrobactrum cytisi | new (Zurdo-Piñeiro et. al. 2007) |
| Ochrobactrum lupini |
The Phyllobacterium genus currently contains three rhizobial species.
| Phyllobacterium trifolii | |
| Phyllobacterium ifriqiyense | new Mantelin et. al. (2006) F |
| Phyllobacterium leguminum | new Mantelin et. al. (2006) F |
The Shinella genus currently contains a single rhizobial species.
| Shinella kummerowiae | New. Lin et. al. (2008) |
A general excellent resource is:
List of Bacterial names with Standing in Nomenclature (LBSN). (2004) Available http://www.bacterio.cict.fr/
For the full list of references for each strain, please check my PhD thesis, Table 1.1, page 3. New References added since the
publication of my thesis will be listed below:
Chun Tao Gu, En Tao Wang, Chang Fu Tian, Tian Xu Han, Wen Feng Chen, Xin Hua Sui and Wen Xin Chen (2008). Rhizobium miluonense sp. nov., a symbiotic bacterium isolated from Lespedeza root nodules. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 58: 1364-1368. Abstract
Valverde, Angel, Igual, Jose M., Peix, Alvaro, Cervantes, Emilio, Velazquez, Encarna. Rhizobium lusitanum sp. nov. a bacterium that nodulates Phaseolus vulgaris. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2006 56: 2631-2637. Abstract
Sophie Mantelin, Marion Fischer-Le Saux, Frederic Zakhia, Gilles Bena, Sophie Bonneau, Habib Jeder, Philippe de Lajudie and Jean-Claude Cleyet-Marel (2006) Emended description of the genus Phyllobacterium and description of four novel species associated with plant roots: Phyllobacterium bourgognense sp. nov., Phyllobacterium ifriqiyense sp. nov., Phyllobacterium leguminum sp. nov. and Phyllobacterium brassicacearum sp. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 56 (4): 827
Chen, Wen-Ming, James, Euan K., Coenye, Tom, Chou, Jui-Hsing, Barrios, Edmundo, de Faria, Sergio M., Elliott, Geoffrey N., Sheu, Shih-Yi, Sprent, Janet I., Vandamme, Peter. (2006) Burkholderia mimosarum sp. nov., isolated from root nodules of Mimosa spp. from Taiwan and South America. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 56: 1847-1851. Abstract
Lloret L, Ormeno-Orrillo E, Rincon R, Martinez-Romero J, Rogel-Hernandez MA, Martinez-Romero E. (2007) Ensifer mexicanus sp. nov. a new species nodulating Acacia angustissima (Mill.) Kuntze in Mexico. Syst Appl Microbiol. Abstract
Martens, Miet, Delaere, Manuel, Coopman, Renata, De Vos, Paul, Gillis, Monique, Willems, Anne. (2007) Multilocus sequence analysis of Ensifer and related taxa Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 57: 489-503. Abstract
Garcia-Fraile, Paula, Rivas, Raul, Willems, Anne, Peix, Alvaro, Martens, Miet, Martinez-Molina, Eustoquio, Mateos, Pedro F., Velazquez, Encarna. (2007) Rhizobium cellulosilyticum sp. nov., isolated from sawdust of Populus alba Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 57: 844-848. Abstract
Zurdo-Pineiro, Jose Luis, Rivas, Raul, Trujillo, Martha E., Vizcaino, Nieves, Carrasco, Jose Antonio, Chamber, Manuel, Palomares, Antonio, Mateos, Pedro F., Martinez-Molina, Eustoquio, Velazquez, Encarna. (2007) Ochrobactrum cytisi sp. nov., isolated from nodules of Cytisus scoparius in Spain Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 57: 784-788. Abstract
Wang, Feng Qin, Wang, En Tao, Liu, Jie, Chen, Qiang, Sui, Xin Hua, Chen, Wen Feng, Chen, Wen Xin. (2007) Mesorhizobium albiziae sp. nov., a novel bacterium that nodulates Albizia kalkora in a subtropical region of China. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 57: 1192-1199 Abstract
Wang, Feng Qin, WChen, Wen-Ming, de Faria, Sergio M., James, Euan K., Elliott, Geoffrey N., Lin, Kuan-Yin, Chou, Jui-Hsing, Sheu, Shih-Yi, Cnockaert, M., Sprent, Janet I., Vandamme, Peter (2007) Burkholderia nodosa sp. nov., isolated from root nodules of the woody Brazilian legumes Mimosa bimucronata and Mimosa scabrella Int J Syst Evol Microbiol, May 2007; 57: 1055 - 1059. Abstract
Han, Tian Xu, Wang, En Tao, Wu, Li Juan, Chen, Wen Feng, Gu, Jin Gang, Gu, Chun Tao, Tian, Chang Fu, Chen, Wen Xin. (2007) Rhizobium multihospitium sp. nov., isolated from multiple legume species native of Xinjiang, China Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 58: 1693-1699 Abstract
Chen WM, de Faria SM, Chou JH, James EK, Elliott GN, Sprent JI, Bontemps C, Young JP, Vandamme P. (2008) Burkholderia sabiae sp. nov., isolated from root nodules of Mimosa caesalpiniifolia. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 58(9):2174-9. Abstract
Tian Xu Han, Li Li Han, Li Juan Wu, Wen Feng Chen, Xin Hua Sui, Jin Gang Gu, En Tao Wang and Wen Xin Chen (2008) Mesorhizobium gobiense sp. nov. and Mesorhizobium tarimense sp. nov., isolated from wild legumes growing in desert soils of Xinjiang, China. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 58(11):2610-2618. Abstract
Guan, Su Hua, Chen, Wen Feng, Wang, En Tao, Lu, Yang Li, Yan, Xue Rui, Zhang, Xiao Xia, Chen, Wen Xin. (2008) Mesorhizobium caraganae sp. nov., a novel rhizobial species nodulated with Caragana spp. in China Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2008 58: 2646-2653. Abstract
Ramirez-Bahena, Martha Helena, Garcia-Fraile, Paula, Peix, Alvaro, Valverde, Angel, Rivas, Raul, Igual, Jose M., Mateos, Pedro F., Martinez-Molina, Eustoquio, Velazquez, Encarna (2008) Revision of the taxonomic status of the species Rhizobium leguminosarum (Frank 1879) Frank 1889AL, Rhizobium phaseoli Dangeard 1926AL and Rhizobium trifolii Dangeard 1926AL. R. trifolii is a later synonym of R. leguminosarum. Reclassification of the strain R. leguminosarum DSM 30132 (=NCIMB 11478) as Rhizobium pisi sp. nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2008 58: 2484-2490. Abstract
Lin, Dong Xu, Wang, En Tao, Tang, Hui, Han, Tian Xu, He, Yu Rong, Guan, Su Hua, Chen, Wen Xin (2008) Shinella kummerowiae sp. nov., a symbiotic bacterium isolated from root nodules of the herbal legume Kummerowia stipulacea. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2008 58: 1409-1413 Abstract
Peng, Guixiang, Yuan, Qinghua, Li, Huaxing, Zhang, Wu, Tan, Zhiyuan (2008) Rhizobium oryzae sp. nov., isolated from the wild rice Oryza alta. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2008 58: 2158-2163 Abstract
Vidal, Celine, Chantreuil, Clemence, Berge, Odile, Maure, Lucette, Escarre, Jose, Bena, Gilles, Brunel, Brigitte, Cleyet-Marel, Jean-Claude. (2009) Mesorhizobium metallidurans sp. nov., a metal-resistant symbiont of Anthyllis vulneraria growing on metallicolous soil in Languedoc, France. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2009 59: 850-855 Abstract
Nandasena, Kemanthi G., O'Hara, Graham W., Tiwari, Ravi P., Willems, Anne, Howieson, John G. (2009). Mesorhizobium australicum sp. nov. and Mesorhizobium opportunistum sp. nov., isolated from Biserrula pelecinus L. in Australia Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2009 59: 2140-2147 Abstract
Chen, Weimin, Zhu, Wenfei, Bontemps, Cyril, Young, J. Peter W., Wei, Gehong. Mesorhizobium alhagi sp. nov., isolated from root nodules of the wild legume Alhagi sparsifolia Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2009 0: ijs.0.014043-0 Abstract
Lu, Yang Li, Chen, Wen Feng, Han, Li Li, Wang, En Tao, Zhang, Xiao Xia, Chen, Wen Xin, Han, Su Zhen. Mesorhizobium shangrilense sp. nov., isolated from root nodules of Caragana spp. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2009 0: ijs.0.007393-0 Abstract
Ramirez-Bahena, Martha Helena, Peix, Alvaro, Rivas, Raul, Camacho, Maria, Rodriguez-Navarro, Dulce N., Mateos, Pedro F., Martinez-Molina, Eustoquio, Willems, Anne, Velazquez, Encarna Bradyrhizobium pachyrhizi sp. nov. and Bradyrhizobium jicamae sp. nov., isolated from effective nodules of Pachyrhizus erosus Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2009 59: 1929-1934 Abstract
Islam, M.S., Kawasaki, H., Muramatsu, Y., Nakagawa, Y., and Seki, T. "Bradyrhizobium iriomotense sp. nov., isolated from a tumor-like root of the legume Entada koshunensis from Iriomote Island in Japan." Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. (2008)72:1416-1429. Abstract doi:10.1271/bbb.70739
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