title: N-fertilizer saving by the inoculation of Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus and Herbaspirillum sp. in micropropagated sugarcane plants.
abstract: Colonization of micropropagated sugarcane plants by Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus and Herbaspirillum sp. was confirmed by a dot-immunoblot assay. In all, a 45-day short-term and 180-day long-term experiments conducted on micropropagated sugarcane plants of Co 86032, a sugar rich popular variety in South India, indicated the usefulness of these diazotrophs as plant growth promoting bacteria. Co-inoculation of these two bacteria enhanced the biomass considerably under N-limited condition in the short duration experiment. In the long-term experiment, the establishment of inoculated Herbaspirillum sp. remained stable with the age of the crop up to 180 days, while there was a reduction in population of G. diazotrophicus for the same period. The total bio-mass and leaf N were higher in plants inoculated with G. diazotrophicus and Herbaspirillum sp. without N fertilization and also in plants with 50% of the recommended N (140 kg ha(-1)) than the plants fertilized with recommended dose of inorganic N (280 kg ha(-1)). This experiment showed that inoculation with these bacteria in sugarcane variety Co 86032 could mitigate fertilizer N application considerably in sugarcane cultivation.
authors.affiliation: Main Bio-control Research Laboratory, Unit of Tamilnadu Co-operative Sugar Federation, Good Will Avenue, Venpakkam, Chengalpattu 603 111, India. mutindia@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ramachandran
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Muthukumarasamy
authors.forename: Munusamy
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Govindarajan
authors.forename: Muthaiyan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vadivelu
authors.forename: Gopalakrishnan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Revathi
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture / Q000379:methods; D005308:Fertilizers; D041821:Gluconacetobacter / Q000502:physiology*; D042803:Herbaspirillum / Q000502:physiology*; D009584:Nitrogen; D031786:Saccharum / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000382:microbiology*; D013559:Symbiosis
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D009584:Nitrogen