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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
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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

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References

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