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Molecular diversity of Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus bacteria, symbionts of Heterorhabditis and Steinernema nematodes retrieved from soil in Benin

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Abstract

The diversity of 43 bacterial strains isolated from Beninese entomopathogenic nematodes was investigated molecularly by analyzing the 16S rRNA, recA, and gyrB genes. Based on 16S rRNA sequence analysis, 15 bacterial strains were identified as Xenorhabdus sp., 27 strains as Photorhabdus sp., and one as Serratia sp. The Xenorhabdus strains were isolated from Steinernema nematodes and identified as Xenorhabdus indica based on 16S rRNA gene and concatenated recA and gyrB sequence analysis. However, analysis of 16S rRNA and concatenated recA and gyrB gene sequences of the Photorhabdus strains, all isolated from Heterorhabditis nematodes, resulted in two separate sub-clusters (A) and (B) within the Photorhabdus luminescens group, distinct from the existing subspecies. They share low sequence similarities with nearest phylogenetic neighbors Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. luminescens HbT, Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. caribbeanensis HG29T, and Photorhabdus luminescens subsp. noenieputensis AM7T.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Special Research Fund (BOF) of Ghent University (Belgium), grant 01W00713. The authors would like to thank Pia Clercx and Andy Vierstraete for the excellent technical assistance and Nancy de Sutter for maintaining the nematode cultures at Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO).

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  1. Department of Crop Production, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, 02 B.P. 1003, Parakou, Benin

    Anique Godjo, Leonard Afouda & Hugues Baimey

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Anique Godjo & Anne Willems

  3. Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Ghent University, K. L. Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Wilfrida Decraemer

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  1. Anique Godjo
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  2. Leonard Afouda
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Communicated by Erko Stackebrandt.

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Godjo, A., Afouda, L., Baimey, H. et al. Molecular diversity of Photorhabdus and Xenorhabdus bacteria, symbionts of Heterorhabditis and Steinernema nematodes retrieved from soil in Benin. Arch Microbiol 200, 589–601 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-017-1470-2

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