Eight fast-growing rhizobial isolated from xinjinag soils were identified as Sinorhizobium xinjiangense by analyses of 16S Rrna gene sequences SDS-PAGE of proteins intergenic spacer sequences an DNA-DNA hybridization. Based on all of the results these isolates and the reference strains for S. xinjianggense were a distinct genomic species although the 16S Rrna genes were closely related to that of Sinorhizobium fredii.

A fast-growing rhizobial group isolated from teguminous plants in Hainan Province a tropical region of China is prouposed as a new Rhizobium species on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequencing DNA-DNA hybridization andphenotypic characterization This new species belongs to the phylogenetic branch which includes Rhizobium leguminosarum We propose the name Rhizoblum hainanense sp. Nov. for this species The strain CCBAU 57015 (166) is the type strain; it has been deposited in the cluture collection of Beijing Agricultural University People's Republic of China

We performed a numerical analysis of 148 phenothpic characteristics of 20 strains of root bodate bacteria isolated from an arid saline desert solt in the Xinjiang region of northwestern People's Repubtic of Chna and compared these organisms with 28 rhisobium and Bradyrhicobium strains obtained from dfferent regions of the People's Republic of China and from other eountries including nine type strains of different spectes All of the strains camined ctustered into two groups at a simitarity lesel of more than 63% Group 1 included all of previously described Rhizobium species and was divided into eight subgroups which corresponded to previously described Rhizobium species at a simitarity level of mare than 82% Group Ⅱ was divided into the following three subgroups at a similarity level ofmore than 80% Bradyhizobium japonicum a cluster containing 17 moderately and slowly growing strains isolated in the Xinjiang region and a small subgroup containing three fast-growing strains The generation times of the moderatedly and slowly growing strains were 5 to 15h, and these organisms produced acid in medium containing mannitol The DNA G+C contents of the members of theis group ranged from 59 to 63 mols DNA-DNA hybridization experiments revealed that the levels of DNA homology among all of moderately and slowly growing strains obtained from Xinjiang were more than 70% and that the levels of DNA homology between representative strains of this group and the type strains of all previousty deseribed species of root-and stem-nodulating bacteria were low All of our experimental data indicated that the moderately and slowly growing rhizobia isolated from Xinjiang are members of a new species Partial 165 rRNA gene sequencing of the type strain A-1BS(=CCBAU3306), and a comparison of the uresulting sequence with the sequences of previously described species revcaled that strain A-1BS is closely related to Rhizobium loti Rhizobium huakuii and Rhizobium galegce but not to B, japonicum and Azohizobium cantinodans On the basis of our results we propose that the strains which we studied are members of a new species Rhizobium tianshanense The type strain A-1BS(=CCBAU3306), has been deposited in the Cullure Collection of Beijing Agricultural University Beijing People's Repubilc of China.

Nine bacterial strains isotated from root nodules of Astragalus sinicus were compated with 41 reference strains Including the type strains of the type speciers of the genera Rhigobium Bradyrhigobium and Agrobacterium by performing a aumerical analysis of 200 henotypefeatures Represntativestrains belonging to different clusters were further compared with similar bacteria by using data from gelelectroporesis of whole-cell proteins DNA G+C content data and DNA-DNA hybridization data The rhizobial strains isolated from nodules of A Ssinicus constitute a ditincl homology group that isquite dfferent from previously described Rhizobium Radyrhizobium and Agrobacterium species and from strains isotaled from other Astragalus species we propose the name Rhizobium huakuil sp nov for the strains isolated rom A sinicus Type strain CCBAU 2609(=103) has been deposited in the Culture Collection of Beijing Agricultural University Beijing, Prople's Republic of China.

Forty-eight rhizobial isolates from root nodules of Indigofera and Kummerowia, two genera of annual or perennial wild legumes growing in the Loess Plateau in north-western China, were characterized by a polyphasic approach, Two main goups cluster 1 and cluster 2, were defined based upon the results of numerical taxonomy SDS-PAGE of whole-cell proteins and DNA relatedness All the isolates within cluster 1 were isolated from Indigofera and they were identified as Rhizobium strins by 165 Rrna gene analysis DNA relatedness of 29.5-48.9% was obtained among the cluster 1 isotates and the reference strains for defined Rhizobium specties Cluster 2 consisted of isolates from Kummerowia stipulacea and was identified as belonging to Sinorhizobium by 165 Rrna gene analyses DNA relatedness varied from 5.2 to 41.7% among the isolates of cluster 2 and reference strains for Sinorhizbium species considering the existence of distinctive features among these two groups and related species within the genera Rhizobium and Sinohizobium we propose two novel species Rhizobium indigoferae sp. Nov for cluster 1, with isolate CCBAU 71714(=AS 1.3046') as the type strain and Sinorhizobium kummerowiae sp. Nov. for cluster 2, with isolate CCBAU 71042' (=AS 1.3045') as the type strain.