The objective of this work was to evaluate the diversity of endophytic diazotrophic bacteria of the genera Herbaspirillum and Burkholderia, in two rice varieties, considered of high (IR 42) and low (IAC 4440) contribution on BNF. Two experiments were conducted in greenhouse conditions, in order to study the association of endophytic diazotrophic bacteria with wetland rice varieties, which were planted in two types of soil: one from Rio de Janeiro State and another from Goiás State, Brazil. Bacterial population (in different parts) and physiological stages of the plants were evaluated, followed by the both genera strains isolation using culture media. The isolated bacteria were characterized based on morphological and physiological aspects. High bacterial counts were detected (10(6) cells g-1 fresh weight), especially in root samples of both rice varieties. The majority of the isolates were used for characterization, and the data obtained from the similarity matrix showed the presence of isolates belonging to Herbaspirillum seropedicae, while other isolates were clustered into the Burkholderia genus.
biological nitrogen fixation; phylogeny; plant-bacteria interaction
