title: Survival, nodulation and N2 fixation ability of root nodule bacteria under different nutritional regimes.
abstract: Eleven strains of Rhizobium and five strains of Bradyrhizobium were examined for their viability as well nodulation and nitrogen fixation ability after storage under different conditions for two years. The storage conditions comprised lateritic soil, lateritic soil plus 1% mannitol, lateritic soil plus 0.1% yeast extract, lateritic soil plus 1% mannitol and 0.1% yeast extract, organic soil, organic soil plus 1% mannitol, organic soil plus 0.1% yeast extract, organic soil plus 1% mannitol and 0.1% yeast extract, and sterile distilled water. All the slow growing strains showed better viability than the fast growing strains in any of these conditions. The survived strains maintained their nodulation ability about 50-60% after one year and 40-50% after two years of preservation as compared to control, but the nodulation ability in sterile distilled water was very poor. Acetylene reduction activity in the nodules was found to be 70-90% and 50-70% after 12 and 24 months of preservation, respectively. The strains retained their phenotypic characters like antibiotic resistance and salt tolerance up to their highest survivability in respective nutritional condition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, Visva Bharati, Santiniketan 731 235, India.
authors.forename: Debasish
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bakshi
authors.forename: Arijit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mukhopadhyay
authors.forename: Arijit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sinhababu
authors.forename: Sushil C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.forename: Narayan C
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Mandal
mesh_terms: D000480:Alkynes / Q000378:metabolism; D020369:Bradyrhizobium / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D005502:Food; D050296:Microbial Viability; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation / Q000502:physiology*; D012231:Rhizobium / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D053204:Root Nodules, Plant / Q000254:growth & development*; D012987:Soil / Q000032:analysis; D013217:Starvation; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000480:Alkynes; D012987:Soil