Discordant population structure within rhizobium divided genomes and
between rhizobia and legume hosts in their native range
Abstract
Symbiosis often occurs between partners with distinct life history
characteristics and dispersal mechanisms. Bacterial symbionts often have
genomes comprised of multiple replicons with distinct rates of evolution
and horizontal transmission. Such differences might drive differences in
population genetic structure between hosts and symbionts and among the
elements of the divided genomes of bacterial symbionts. These
differences might, in turn, shape the evolution of symbiotic
interactions and bacterial evolution. Here we use whole genome
resequencing of a hierarchically-structured sample of 191 strains of
Ensifer meliloti collected from 21 locations in the native range to
characterize population structure of this bacterial symbiont and its
host plant Medicago truncatula. E. meliloti genomes showed high local
(within-site) variation and little isolation by distance. This was
particularly true for the two symbiosis elements pSymA and pSymB, which
have population structures that are similar to each other, but distinct
from both the bacterial chromosome and the host plant. The differences
in population structure may result from differences in mobility or
selection driving bacterial adaptation to life in the soil versus in
association with plants. Discordant population structure between hosts
and symbionts indicates that geographically and genetically distinct
host populations in different parts of the range might interact with
genetically similar symbionts, potentially minimizing the potential for
local specialization.