Search for Ancestral Features in Genomes of bv. Strains Isolated from the Relict Legume .

is a relict leguminous plant growing in hard-to-reach habitats in the rocky highlands of the Caucasus and Middle East, and it is considered as the putative closest living relative of the last common ancestor (LCA) of the Fabeae tribe. Symbionts of belonging to bv. compose a discrete group that differs from the other strains, especially in the nucleotide sequences of the symbiotically specialised () genes.