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Genetic Diversity of Frankia Microsymbionts from the Relict Species Myrica faya (Ait.) and Myrica rivas-martinezii (S.) in Canary Islands and Hawaii

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Abstract

In the Western Canary Islands, Myrica faya and Myrica rivas-martinezii (Myricaceae) are phylogenetically close, endemic, actinorhizal species presumed to be remnants either of the European or the African Tertiary floras. Unisolated Frankia strains from field-collected nodules on Tenerife, Gomera, and La Palma Islands were compared by their rrs gene and 16S–23S intergenic spacer (IGS) restriction patterns. To compare the genetic diversity of Frankia strains from within and outside the host’s native range, nodules of M. faya field plants were collected both in Canary Islands and in Hawaii, where this species is an exotic invasive. Myrica rivas-martinezii, endemic to the Canary Islands, was sparsely nodulated in the field. Frankia strains harbored in field-collected nodules of M. faya and M. rivas-martinezii belonged to the Elaeagnaceae strains’ genetic cluster and exhibited a high degree of diversity. Frankia genotypes were specific to each host species. In the Canary archipelago, we found no relationship between site of collection and Frankia genotype for M. faya. The only exceptions were strains from site 2 in Tenerife, a location with a geological history different from the other sites sampled. Hawaiian and Canarian M. faya strains had no genotypes in common, raising questions concerning the origin of M. faya-infective Frankia in Hawaii. Nodular strains of M. rivas-martinezii from nursery plants were genetically characterized and shown to be divergent from the strains of field-collected nodules and belong to the Alnus-Casuarina strains cluster. This suggests Myrica may have the potential to nodulate with a broader range of Frankia genotypes under artificial conditions than has been detected in field-collected nodules.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Philippe Danton and Elisabeth Samuel (Laboratoire de Biodiversité, Evolution des Végétaux Actuels et Fossiles, Université Lyon1, France) for providing background information on the flora of the Canary Islands, and J. T. Tunison and Volcanoes National Park for assistance in collecting the samples from Hawaii. This work was supported by a grant from the Ministère de la Recherche et de l’Education.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ecologie Microbienne, UMR CNRS 5557, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 69622, Villeurbanne Cedex, France

    V. Huguet & M. P. Fernandez

  2. Consejería de Medio Ambiente y Ordenación Territorial del Gobierno de Canarias, Dirección General del Medio Natural, 38071, La Laguna (Tenerife), Spain

    E. Ojeda Land & J. Garcia Casanova

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154-4004, USA

    J. F. Zimpfer

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  1. V. Huguet
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  2. E. Ojeda Land
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  3. J. Garcia Casanova
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  4. J. F. Zimpfer
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  5. M. P. Fernandez
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Correspondence to M. P. Fernandez.

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Huguet, V., Land, E.O., Casanova, J.G. et al. Genetic Diversity of Frankia Microsymbionts from the Relict Species Myrica faya (Ait.) and Myrica rivas-martinezii (S.) in Canary Islands and Hawaii. Microb Ecol 49, 617–625 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-004-0107-6

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