We investigated the genetic diversity and symbiotic efficiency of 223 Sinorhizobium sp. isolates sampled from a single Mediterranean soil and trapped with four Medicago truncatula lines. DNA molecular polymorphism was estimated by capillary electrophoresis-single-stranded conformation polymorphism and restriction fragment length polymorphism on five loci (IGS NOD , typA, virB11, avhB11, and the 16S rRNA gene). More than 90% of the rhizobia isolated belonged to the Sinorhizobium medicae species (others belonged to Sinorhizobium meliloti), with different proportions of the two species among the four M. truncatula lines. The S. meliloti population was more diverse than that of S. medicae, and significant genetic differentiation among bacterial populations was detected. Single inoculations performed in tubes with each bacterial genotype and each plant line showed significant bacterium-plant line interactions for nodulation and N 2 fixation levels. Competition experiments within each species highlighted either strong or weak competition among genotypes within S. medicae and S. meliloti, respectively. Interspecies competition experiments showed S. meliloti to be more competitive than S. medicae for nodulation. Although not highly divergent at a nucleotide level, isolates collected from this single soil sample displayed wide polymorphism for both nodulation and N 2 fixation. Each M. truncatula line might influence Sinorhizobium soil population diversity differently via its symbiotic preferences. Our data suggested that the two species did not evolve similarly, with S. meliloti showing polymorphism and variable selective pressures and S. medicae showing traces of a recent demographic expansion. Strain effectiveness might have played a role in the species and genotype proportions, but in conjunction with strain adaptation to environmental factors.The rhizobium-legume nitrogen-fixing association is a good model for studying symbiosis and coevolution between organisms. In this mutualistic association, bacteria form nodules on plant roots (more rarely on the stem), where atmospheric nitrogen is reduced to ammonium available for the plant. Among the various plant-bacterium couples studied so far, the Medicago truncatula association with Sinorhizobium meliloti is particularly interesting (8) and has often been studied as a model system for genetic description of the molecular pathways involved in the establishment of the symbiosis (16). M. truncatula has the ability to form an efficient symbiosis with two bacterial species, S. meliloti (9) and its sister species, Sinorhizobium medicae (29).The genetic diversity of these two bacterial species, especially S. meliloti, has usually been described as quite important (2,7,11,40). This bacterial diversity, assessed by phenotypic or genotypic analyses, has been reported to be influenced by several factors, including geographical location (32), soil factors (14), and plant species (19,37). Furthermore, at an interspecies level, several studies on S. meliloti and S. medicae natural pop...

Wood-decay white-rot and brown-rot fungi have a major economic impact on commercial and manufactured tropical and temperate woods. The aim of this study was to design a molecular method, coupled with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and DNA sequencing, to enable early identification of various forms of fungal decay in various types of wood. The resulting tool could be used to certify the healthiness of commercial woods and also to make more efficient use of chemicals and thus reduce their negative environmental impact. Sapwood plates of Distemonanthus benthamianus,Fagus sylvatica, Lophira alata, Pinus sylvestris, and Pycnanthus angolensis were incubated in vitro in the presence of Fibroporia vaillantii, Coniophora puteana, Gloeophyllum trabeum, Pycnoporus sanguineus, and Trametes versicolor according to the EN 113 standard method. Average mass losses ranging from 2.6% to 25.0% indicated that all wood samples had been actually infected and enabled us to test the reliability of our method. PCR products were obtained in 24 of 25 combinations, and DNA sequences were obtained in 21 of the 24 fungal PCR products. DNA sequences obtained from infected wood were compared with sequences from pure strains, thus confirming the identity of the infecting strains with 100% similarity for an average of 412 bp.