Kingdom Bacteria Phylum Proteobacteria Rank Order | Scientific name Rhizobiales Higher classification Alphaproteobacteria | |
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Lower classifications Rhizobiaceae, Agrobacterium, Rhizobium, Bradyrhizobium, Brucella | ||
The Rhizobiales are an order of Gram-negative Alphaproteobacteria.
Contents
The rhizobia, which fix nitrogen and are symbiotic with plant roots, appear in several different families. The four families Bradyrhizobiaceae, Hyphomicrobiaceae, Phyllobacteriaceae, and Rhizobiaceae contain at least six genera of nitrogen-fixing, legume-nodulating, microsymbiotic bacteria. Examples are the genera Bradyrhizobium and Rhizobium. Species of the Methylocystaceae are methanotrophs; they use methanol (CH3OH) or methane (CH4) as their sole energy and carbon sources. Other important genera are Bartonella (pathogen) and Agrobacterium (genetic engineering).
Phylogeny
The currently accepted taxonomy is based on the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature and National Center for Biotechnology Information and the phylogeny is based on whole-genome sequences.
Natural genetic transformation
Natural genetic transformation has been reported in at least three Rhizobiales species: Agrobacterium tumefaciens, Methylobacterium organophilum, and Bradyrhizobium japonicum. Natural genetic transformation is a sexual process involving DNA transfer from one bacterial cell to another through the intervening medium, and the integration of the donor sequence into the recipient genome by homologous recombination.