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Soil saprophytic nitrogen-fixing nodule bacteria (rhizobia) of the Sinorhizobium meliloti species are formed symbiosis with alfalfa and can also be a host of bacteriophages. Rhizobia have a symbiotic and saprophytic life phase?s cycle. Nodules formed by rhizobia on alfalfa roots are destroyed at the end of the growing season and bacteria surviving in nodule threads and did not transformed into bacteroids are released into the soil microbiome. The last is enriched in bacteriophages, which can significantly decrease...

Currently, CRISPR/Cas systems are actively studied bacterial systems, due to the possibilitpossibility to apply them for targeted editing of eukaryotic genomes. CRISPR/Cas systems are belonged to adaptive immun immune system of bacteria and archaea acting against invading mobile genetic elements (MGEs: bacteriophages and integrative conjugative elements ). Curre Currently CRISPR/Cas systems were detected in genomes of 75% of known archaea and 36 % of bacteria strains . However, there are still quite less knowledge...

Nodule bacteria (rhizobia) forming nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with legumes have a multicomponent genome represented by chromosome and a number of plasmids of different sizes. Genes related to symbiotic activity of Sinorhizobium meliloti are located predominantly on two megaplasmids SMa and SMb (1.35 and 1.68 Mb, correspondingly). Genomes at about 80% of native rhizobia nodulating alfalfa contained cryptic plasmids with sizes varied from 7 up to 450 kb. Functional role of this class of plasmids remained unclear up t...

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation is the most environmentally friendly method for the accumulation of biologically bound nitrogen. Nitrogen fixation is carried out by bacteria, including from the class of ?-proteobacteria. Global climate changes lead to an increase of agricultural areas subjected to salinity. Current knowledge about the effect of high-salt stress on nitrogen-fixing symbiotic ?-proteobacteria has the appearance of a puzzle. The genetic mechanisms determining salt tolerance have been studied in the most d...