{"id":3368,"date":"2026-02-05T00:03:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T00:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/?p=3368"},"modified":"2026-02-05T00:03:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T00:03:18","slug":"claimed-rhizobium-by-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/claimed-rhizobium-by-benefit\/","title":{"rendered":"[Research Roundup] Analyzing the Genome of a Strain Recently Claimed to be Rhizobium by BENEFIT"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"3368\" class=\"elementor elementor-3368\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2bc423e9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2bc423e9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-66a3c91a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"66a3c91a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p aria-level=\"1\"><span class=\"TextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">This study by\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">members of the\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">Team\u00a0<\/span><\/span><strong><span class=\"TextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">BENEFIT<\/span><\/span><\/strong><span class=\"TextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">\u00a0takes a closer look at the genome of\u00a0<\/span><\/span><em><span class=\"TextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">S.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2Themed SCXW265350885 BCX0\">sediminicola<\/span><\/span><\/em><span class=\"TextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">, a strain recently\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">claim<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">ed to be a rhizobium in 2023<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">\u00a0by French researchers<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">.\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">In the study, the team<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW265350885 BCX0\">\u00a0ran controlled experiments to see whether this strain truly behaves like known rhizobia, with their results supporting the rejection of the recent claim.<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW265350885 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><h3 aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Keywords<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:360,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3><ul><li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Bacteria<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Legumes<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Nitrogen<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Rhizobia<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-328c3cc elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"328c3cc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figure class=\"wp-caption\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/19ZM3PfKzLW2ZPFU_ogM_W05tyZp8LP94\/view?usp=sharing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BENEFIT-diCenzo-et-al-2025-1024x576.png\" class=\"attachment-large size-large wp-image-3401\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BENEFIT-diCenzo-et-al-2025-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BENEFIT-diCenzo-et-al-2025-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BENEFIT-diCenzo-et-al-2025-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BENEFIT-diCenzo-et-al-2025-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BENEFIT-diCenzo-et-al-2025-18x10.png 18w, https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BENEFIT-diCenzo-et-al-2025.png 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption class=\"widget-image-caption wp-caption-text\">Click to view this visual abstract as a PDF<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70b38e3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"70b38e3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 aria-level=\"1\">Research Highlights<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:360,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3><ul><li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Rhizobia are soil bacteria that fix nitrogen and form nodules in legumes, with all alpha-rhizobia belonging to the order\u00a0<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Hyphomicrobiales<\/span><\/i><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">S.\u00a0sediminicola<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0was recently claimed as a rhizobium, which, if true, would extend\u00a0alpha-rhizobia\u00a0to also include the order\u00a0<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Sphingomonadales<\/span><\/i><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Experiments revealed that\u00a0<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">S.\u00a0sediminicola<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0cannot\u00a0nodulate\u00a0pea plants or fix nitrogen, refuting the recent claim<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Alpha-rhizobia\u00a0remain\u00a0limited to the order\u00a0<\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Hyphomicrobiales<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, underscoring the\u00a0importance of thorough scientific analyses\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279,&quot;335559991&quot;:360}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ul><h3 aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Editorial Reflections<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:360,&quot;335559739&quot;:80,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3><p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The key significance of this study lies in its finding that all known alpha\u2011rhizobia remain taxonomically limited to Hyphomicrobiales, in contrast to the conclusions of Mazoyon et\u202fal. (2023). This paper, therefore, emphasizes the value of carefully verifying proposed taxonomic novelty to help ensure accuracy and integrity within scientific literature.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335551550&quot;:1,&quot;335551620&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:0,&quot;335559737&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:160,&quot;335559740&quot;:279}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Le\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">BENEFIT<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> project at Queen&#8217;s University aims to develop microbial bio-inoculants to improve crop growth in Canadian agriculture by\u00a0ultimately helping\u00a0to reduce the need for traditional fertilizers. The researchers are developing microbial strains to enhance crop productivity in cereals, brassicas, and legumes in Canadian soils.\u00a0Contributing authors from the team are:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/george-dicenzo-1786bb1b4\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">George C.\u00a0diCenzo<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0\u2013 Project\u00a0Co-Lead\u00a0&amp;\u00a0Activity 1 Co-Lead\u00a0of the BENEFIT Project<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/oonaesme\/?originalSubdomain=ca\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Oona Esme<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0\u2013 Laboratory Technician, DiCenzo Lab<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li><\/ul><p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Curious about Team\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">BENEFIT<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u2019s ongoing work? Visit\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.queensu.ca\/microbes-for-agriculture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">queensu.ca\/microbes-for-agriculture<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0to learn more.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559685&quot;:0}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Food for Thought:<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0Read the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/cdnsciencepub.com\/doi\/10.1139\/cjm-2025-0100\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">full article here<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.\u00a0In your opinion, how\u00a0can the scientific community balance enthusiasm for new discoveries with the thoughtful verification needed to\u00a0maintain\u00a0the integrity of scientific literature?<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><h3 aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">References<\/span><\/h3><p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">diCenzo, G. C.,\u00a0Gutmanis, S. M., Esme, O., &amp; Moulin, L. (2025). Re-evaluation of the nodulation capacity of\u00a0Sphingomonas\u00a0sediminicola\u00a0DSM 18106\u1d40 indicates that this strain\u00a0is not capable of inducing\u00a0root nodule formation on Pisum sativum (pea). Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 71(1), 1\u20139.\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1139\/cjm-2025-0100\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1139\/cjm-2025-0100<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p><p><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e9a5992 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"e9a5992\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c2513ac elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c2513ac\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">About the Climate-Smart Agri-Food Network<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134245418&quot;:true,&quot;134245529&quot;:true,&quot;335559738&quot;:360,&quot;335559739&quot;:80}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/h3><p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Funded by Genome Canada through the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/genomecanada.ca\/challenge-areas\/climate-smart-agriculture-and-food-systems\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Climate\u2011Smart Agriculture and Food Systems<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0portfolio, the Network brings together nine Interdisciplinary Challenge Teams (ICTs) and two hubs \u2014 the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/ag-act-agricultural-genomics-action-centre\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Agricultural Genomics Action Centre (AG\u2011ACt)<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0and the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/cs-dcc-climate-smart-data-collaboration-centre\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">Climate\u2011Smart Data Collaboration Centre (CS\u2011DCC)<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u00a0\u2014 to advance climate\u2011smart agriculture through genomic innovations.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This study by\u00a0members of the\u00a0Team\u00a0BENEFIT\u00a0takes a closer look at the genome of\u00a0S.\u00a0sediminicola, a strain recently\u00a0claimed to be a rhizobium in 2023\u00a0by French researchers.\u00a0In the study, the team\u00a0ran controlled experiments to see whether this strain truly behaves like known rhizobia, with their results supporting the rejection of the recent claim. Keywords Bacteria Legumes Nitrogen Rhizobia Click [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3368"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3524,"href":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3368\/revisions\/3524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatesmartagrifood.ca\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}