Rhizobium leguminosarum Genome Project

The Organism

The symbiosis between legumes and N2-fixing bacteria (rhizobia) is of huge agronomic benefit, allowing many crops to be grown without N fertilizer. It is a sophisticated example of coupled development between bacteria and higher plants, culminating in the organogenesis of root nodules. Rhizobium leguminosarum biovar viciae is a nitrogen-fixing plant symbiont that nodulate peas and broad bean. R. leguminosarum biovar viciae (Rlv) strain 3841 is a spontaneous streptomycin-resistant mutant of field isolate 300.

The Genome

The R. leguminosarum strain 3841 genome is composed of a single circular chromosome of 5,047,142 bp, and six plasmids; pRL12 (870,021 bp), pRL11 (684,202 bp), pRL10 (488,135 bp), pRL9 (352,782 bp), and pRL8 (147,463 bp). The total size of the genome is 7,751,309 bp, and it was sequenced in collaboration with Prof. Peter Young of the Department of Biology , University of York, and Prof. Andy Johnston of the Department of Biological Sciences , University of East Anglia.

Data Release

A manuscript describing the R. leguminosarum strain 3841 genome has been published: Young et al. (2006) The genome of Rhizobium leguminosarum has recognizable core and accessory components. Genome Biology' 7(4):R34 .

Sequencing Enquiries

Please address all sequencing and annotation enquiries to Dr. Julian Parkhill .