Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T18:19:52.579Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Role of Rhizobial Biodiversity in Legume Crop Productivity in the West Asian Highlands. III. Rhizobium meliloti

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

L. A. Materon ,
J. D. H. Keatinge ,
D. P. Beck ,
N. Yurtsever ,
K. Karuc  and
S. Altuntas
L. A. Materon
Affiliation:
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Aleppo, Syria;
J. D. H. Keatinge
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, The University of Reading, Berkshire, England;
D. P. Beck
Affiliation:
International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Aleppo, Syria;
N. Yurtsever
Affiliation:
Soil and Fertilizer Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ankara, Turkey
K. Karuc
Affiliation:
Soil and Fertilizer Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ankara, Turkey
S. Altuntas
Affiliation:
Soil and Fertilizer Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ankara, Turkey
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

The native rhizobia capable of symbiosis with potential pasture legume crops for the west Asian highlands were surveyed and estimates made of the numbers and nitrogen fixing efficiency of isolates of Rhizobium meliloti with a range of annual Medicago species. Soils were collected from 105 sites at elevations between 500 and 2200 m. Numbers of bacteria were generally adequate to permit efficient nodulation but the nitrogen fixing efficiency of three of the four host species with the indigenous rhizobia was often low. In contrast, nitrogen fixation in M. aculeata was generally highly efficient. No overall geographic pattern in either numbers or efficiency of nitrogen fixation was evident. Substantial further research is required before annual medic crops can be successfully introduced into highland crop/livestock systems in Turkey and elsewhere in the west Asian highlands.

Biodiversidad en el Rhizobium meliloti

Type
Research Article
Information
Experimental Agriculture , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , October 1995 , pp. 493 - 499
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Brockwell, J., Halliday, R. A., Daoud, D. M. & Materon, L. A. (1988). Symbiotic characteristics of a Rhizobium-specific annual medic, Medicago rigidula (L.). Soil Biology and Biochemistry 20:593–600.Google Scholar
Cocks, P. S. (1988). The role of pasture and forage legumes in livestock based farming systems. In Nitrogen Fixation by Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, 3–10 (Eds Beck, D. P. and Materon, L. A.). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff.Google Scholar
Eardly, B. D., Materon, L. A., Smith, N. H., Johnson, D. A., Rumbaugh, M. D. & Selander, R. K. (1990). Genetic structure of natural populations of the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Rhizobium meliloti. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 56:187–194.Google Scholar
Government of Turkey, State Institute of Statistics (1991). The Summary of Agricultural Statistics for 1989. Publication No. 1474. Ankara, Turkey: State Institute of Statistics.Google Scholar
Keatinge, J. D. H. (1994). Agricultural change in Turkey 1947–87: An example for the Mediterranean region? Journal of Economics, Agriculture and Environment (MEDIT) 5(2):19–24.Google Scholar
Keatinge, J. D. H., Materon, L. A., Beck, D. P., Yurtsever, N., Karuc, K. & Altuntas, S. (1995 a). The role of rhizobial biodiversity in legume crop productivity in the west Asian highlands. I. Rationale, methods and overview. Experimental Agriculture 31:473–483.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keatinge, J. D. H., Beck, D. P., Materon, L. A., Yurtsever, N., Karuc, K. & Altuntas, S. (1995 b). The role of rhizobial biodiversity in legume crop productivity in the west Asian highlands. IV. Rhizobium ciceri. Experimental Agriculture 31:501–507.Google Scholar
Materon, L. A. (1991). Symbiotic characteristics of Rhizobium meliloti in west Asian soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 23:429–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Materon, L. A. & Cocks, P. S. (1988). Constraints to biological nitrogen fixation in ley-farming systems designed for west Asia. In Microbiology in Action, 93–106 (Eds Murrel, W. G. and Kennedy, I. R.). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Materon, L. A. & Danso, S. K. A. (1991). Nitrogen fixation in two annual Medicago legumes, as affected by inoculation and seed density. Field Crops Research 26:253–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Materon, L. A., Keatinge, J. D. H., Beck, D. P., Yurtsever, N., Karuc, K. & Altuntas, S. (1995). The role of rhizobial biodiversity in legume crop productivity in the west Asian highlands. II. Rhizobium leguminosarum. Experimental Agriculture 31:485–491.Google Scholar
Webber, G. D. (1993). Extension of ley farming in the Mediterranean basin. In Introducing Ley Farming to the Mediterranean Basin, 165–172 (Eds Christiansen, S., Materon, L. A., Cocks, P. S. and Falcinelli, M.). Aleppo, Syria: ICARDA.Google Scholar