Abstract
In a green-house experiment, five cultivars of Pisum sativum L. grown on soils from 10 different locations in Tunisia, showed significant differences in nodulation, shoot dry matter (shDM) yield and shoot nitrogen content (shNC). The effect of soil on biological nitrogen fixation, as evidenced by the number and weight of nodules, was mainly attributable to the available phosphorus content. Cate-Nelson ANOVA analysis established a critical value of soil test phosphorus (STP) of 20 mg P kg−1 soil for nodule weight and number for the majority of cultivars. Within cultivars, nodulation varied with maturation period and was correlated with shoot NC. Thus, the overall interaction of soil-P content and cultivar-maturation period were correlated positively with nodulation and to symbiotic effectiveness of strains of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. viceae indigenous to these soils. Based on an antibiotic susceptibility test and main variable factor analysis of the data obtained, 70 isolates of Rhizobia that nodulate pea, obtained from soils from agricultural sites throughout Tunisia, were identified as belonging to 18 distinct strains. These classes were identified on the basis of symbiotic efficiency parameters (shoot DM yield and shoot NC) as: ineffective (33 isolates), moderately effective (27 isolates), and efficient strains (10 isolates). This study shows that the Mateur site, an agricultural area for millennia in the northern region of Tunisia, harbors rhizobial strains that are highly efficient in fixing N2 with peas. These results also indicate the importance of strain-cultivar interrelationships and specificity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Antoun H, Bordeleau L M and Prevost D 1982 Strain identification in Rhizobium meliloti using the antibiotic disk susceptibility test. Plant Soil 61, 45–51.
Bordeleau L M, Lalande R and Antoun H 1980 Oxygen and Mannitol consumption of Rhizobium meliloti in relation to symbiotic nitrogen fixation efficiency. Plant Soil 61, 439–443.
Brady N C and Weil R R 1999 Nitrogen and sulfur economy of soils. In The Nature and Properties of Soils, 12th edn. pp. 491–523. Prentice Hall International, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
Bruce R C and Bruce I J 1972 The correlation of soil phosphorus analysis with response of tropical pastures to superphosphates on some north Queensland soils. Aust. J. Exp. Agric. Anim. Husb. 12, 188–194.
Caroll B J and Mathews A 1990 Nitrate inhibition of nodulation in legumes. In Molecular Biology of Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation. Ed P M Gresshoff. pp. 159–180. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.
Caballero-Mellado J and Martinez-Romero E 1999 Soil fertilization limits the genetic diversity of Rhizobium in bean nodules. Symbiosis 26, 111–121.
Diouf A, Ndoye I, Spencer M M, Nef-Campa C and Gueye M 1999 Need for inoculation of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Senegal and assessment of nitrogen fixation using 15N isotope dilution technique. Symbiosis 27, 251–257.
Elkan G H 1992 Biological nitrogen fixation. In Encyclopedia of Microbiology, Volume 1. pp. 285–295. Academic Press Inc., New York.
Hair J F, Anderson R E, Tatham R L and Black W C 1995 Multivariate Data Analysis with Readings, 4th edn. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Hobbs S L A and Mahon J D 1983 Variability and interaction in the Pisum sativum L.–Rhizobium leguminosarum symbiosis. Can. J. Plant Sci. 63, 591–599.
Hobbs S L A and Mahon J D 1982 Variation, heritability, and relationship to yield of physiological characters in peas. Crop Sci. 22, 773–779.
Jacobsen I 1982 Rôle de phosphore sur la fixation d'azote des jeunes pois. Physiol. Plant. 64, 190–196.
Kamprath E J and Watson M E 1980 Conventional soil and tissue tests for assessing the phosphorus status of soils. In Role of Phosphorus in Agriculture. Eds F E Khasawneh, E C Sample and E J Kamprath. pp. 433–469. Am. Soc. Agron., Madison, WI USA.
Khiari L, Parent L E, Pellerin A, Alimi ARA, Tremblay C, Simard R R and J Fortin 2000 An agri-environmental phosphorus saturation index for acid coarse-textured soils. J. Environ. Qual. 29, 1561–1567.
Kneen B E and Larue T A 1984 Peas with strain specificity for Rhizobium leguminosarum. Heredity 52, 383–389.
Labidi M and Dahmane A B K 1989 Influence de quelques propriétés physico-chimiques de 10 sols du nord de la Tunisie sur le rendements en matière sèche et en azote du pois (Pisum sativum L.). Ann. Inst. Nat. Rech. Agron. Tunisie 62, 1–28.
Leif S 1983 Cultivar and Rhizobium strain effects on the symbiotic performance of pea (Pisum sativum). Physiol. Plant. 59, 585–589.
Liaghat M and Prasher S O 1996 A lysimeter study of grass cover and water table depth effects on pesticide residues in drainage water. Am. Soc. Agric. Engrs. 39, 1731–1738.
Nelson L A and R L Anderson 1977 Partitioning of soil test-crop response probability. In Soil Testing: Correlating and Interpreting the Analytical Results. Ed. M Stelly. pp. 19–38. Am. Soc. Agron. Spec. Publ. 29, Madison, WI.
Parker C A, Trinick M J and Chatel D L 1977 Rhizobia as soil and rhizosphere inhabitants. In A Treatise on Dinitrogen Fixation. Eds R W F Hardy and A H Gibson. pp. 311–352. John Wiley and Sons, New York.
Phillips D A 1999 Using rhizobia in the 21st century. Symbiosis 27, 83–102.
Rennie R J 1984 Competition of N balance and 15N isotope dilution to quantify N2 fixation in fields grown legumes. Agron. J. 76, 785–790.
Sessitsch A, Hardarson G, De Vos W M and Wilson K J 1998 Use of marker genes in competition studies of Rhizobium. Plant Soil 204, 35–45.
Steel R G D and Torrie J H 1980 Principles and Procedures of Statistics. A Biometrical Approach. 2nd edn. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York.
Tichonovich I A 1981 Study of the interaction of genotypes of leguminous plants and nodule bacteria in the course of symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Soil Microbiology Institute. Leningrad USSR. Ref. Zh. 12, 65–201.
Vincent J M 1970 A Manual for the Practical Study of Root Nodules Bacteria. IBP Handbook, No. 15. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, England.
Vincent J M 1980 Factors controlling the legume-Rhizobium symbiosis. In Nitrogen Fixation. Vol. II. Eds W E Newton and W M Orme-Johnson. pp. 103–129. Univ. Park Press, Baltimore, MD.
Winarno R and Lie T A 1979 Competition between Rhizobium strains in nodule formation: Interaction between nodulating and non-nodulating strains. Plant Soil 51, 135–142.
Young J P W, Johnston A W B and Brewin N J 1982 A search for peas (Pisum sativum L.) showing strain specificity for symbiotic Rhizobium leguminosarum. Heredity 48, 197–201.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Labidi, M., Dahmane, A.B.K., Mansour, H.B. et al. Soil P-status and cultivar maturity effects on pea-Rhizobium symbiosis. Plant and Soil 252, 339–348 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024788105576
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1024788105576