Description
Biserrula pelecinus (biserrula) is a pasture legume of Mediterranean climates. Because of its ability to survive on acidic and infertile soils, it has been introduced to southern Australia as a potential alternative or companion plant to serradella and subterranean clover. The successful introduction of this species will be reliant upon the selection of an appropriate inoculant strain of its root-nodule bacteria and understanding of its ecology. A selection of five rhizobial strains isolated from biserrula nodules collected in Sardinia and Greece were examined for their ability to nodulate and fix nitrogen with 3 genotypes of biserrula. Although all rhizobial strains nodulated all host genotypes of biserrula, great variability in capacity to fix nitrogen was evident. Distinct PCR amplification profiles were generated for individual rhizobial strains which confirmed the phenotypic variability of the strains. Attention needs to be given to the large host-strain variability for nitrogen fixation in this symbiosis before proceeding with agronomic evaluation.
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Legume-Rhizobia Relationship in the Nitrogen Fixation of a New Mediterranean Pasture Legume (Biserrula Pelecinus L.)
Biserrula pelecinus (biserrula) is a pasture legume of Mediterranean climates. Because of its ability to survive on acidic and infertile soils, it has been introduced to southern Australia as a potential alternative or companion plant to serradella and subterranean clover. The successful introduction of this species will be reliant upon the selection of an appropriate inoculant strain of its root-nodule bacteria and understanding of its ecology. A selection of five rhizobial strains isolated from biserrula nodules collected in Sardinia and Greece were examined for their ability to nodulate and fix nitrogen with 3 genotypes of biserrula. Although all rhizobial strains nodulated all host genotypes of biserrula, great variability in capacity to fix nitrogen was evident. Distinct PCR amplification profiles were generated for individual rhizobial strains which confirmed the phenotypic variability of the strains. Attention needs to be given to the large host-strain variability for nitrogen fixation in this symbiosis before proceeding with agronomic evaluation.
