title: Mimosine Content of Leucaena leucocephala and the Sensitivity of Rhizobium to Mimosine.
abstract: Mimosine was qualitatively and quantitatively estimated from the different parts of Leucaena leucocephala strains K-8 and K-67. The amount of mimosine as percentage of dry weight in the two strains were, respectively, as follows: seeds, 6.82, 9.98; old leaves, 1.5, 1.33; young leaves, 2.85, 3.33; main root, 1.13, 1.02; lateral roots, 1.46, 1.17; stems, 0.73, 0.33. Rhizobium isolates from L. leucocephala (UAS-Ll-8, UAS-Ll-67), Mimosa pudica (UAS-Mp) and Prosopis juliflora (UAS-Pj) formed an effective (nod(+) fix(+)) association with Leucaena, while an isolate from Crotalaria sp. (UAS-Cr) proved to be ineffective (nod(+) fix(-)). All isolates performed better than reference strain TAL-82. Strain UAS-Pj gave optimum nodulation and plant growth characteristics. The effect of mimosine on the vegetative Rhizobium cultures was studied by the lawn method of growing rhizobia, using 2.5 to 15 mg·ml(-1) mimosine. All the effective strains were stimulated by mimosine up to 7.5 mg·ml(-1)strains. UAS-Ll-8 and UAS-Ll-67 were stimulated up to 15 mg·ml(-1) of mimosine. The ineffective strain UAS-Cr was inhibited at all the concentrations of mimosine tried.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural Microbiology, The University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore-65, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mathews
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vittal Rai