Response to five different inoculation treatments has been determined in a three-year-old prairie area established at the Becker Sandplain Experiment Station in Fall 2004. Seed inoculation was generally ineffective, but overall legume numbers and biomass in the prairie restorations were enhanced by both soil-applied granular and cover-crop applied inoculants, with soils collected from the prair...

Abstract Many agricultural researches have been performed to improve soil productivity. Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) are essential elements which are utilized by the plants in large amounts. Phosphorus can be provided by applying chemical fertilizers. Microorganisms convert insoluble phosphate to the soluble form and some bacteria such as rhizobacteria play an important role in this proces...

An agar plate method has been developed for the rapid, preliminary screening of large numbers of rhizobia for tolerance to acidity and aluminum (acid-Al). Media containing pH indicators are used, and distinguish true tolerance from cases where growth depends on a previous pH shift. Strains which were highly tolerant or sensitive to acid Al on agar behaved similarly in defined liquid media. Stra...

Rhizobia are Gram-negative bacteria that can exist either as free-living bacteria or as nitrogen-fixing symbionts inside root nodules of leguminous plants. The composition of the rhizobial outer surface, containing a variety of polysaccharides, plays a significant role in the adaptation of these bacteria in both habitats. Among rhizobial polymers, exopolysaccharide (EPS) is indispensable for th...

AIMS To determine the biodiversity of rhizobial strains nodulating Cicer arietinum L. in representative soils from various areas of Morocco. METHODS AND RESULTS Symbiotic traits, utilization of 49 carbohydrate sources, resistance to antibiotics and heavy metals, tolerance to salinity, to extreme temperatures and pH were studied as phenotypic markers. In addition, restriction fragment length p...