Abstract.
The effect of a variety factors on the survival of several rhizobia strains on inoculants and inoculated seeds has been evaluated. Since the rhizobia strains showed different cell-density-evolution patterns on peat-based inoculants and on inoculated seeds, several inoculant formulations with highly effective Rhizobium/Bradyrhizobium strains (for Lupinus, Hedysarum, Phaseolus and Glycine max.) were monitored under the following storage conditions: (a) the inoculants were kept refrigerated (at 4 °C), or (b) at room temperature (25 °C). The effect of water content (30–50%, w/w) in the inoculants as well as that of several seed-coating adhesives were also investigated. Alternative carriers including perlite and vermiculite were tested. For all of the strains, survival on sterile peat-based inoculants was higher than on the corresponding unsterile peat formulation; for the latter, refrigerated storage conditions are recommended to ensure high bacterial densities. The water content of the inoculants had a differential effect on strain survival depending on the sterility of the peat, such that a high water content was more detrimental when unsterilized peat was employed. The best adherent for rhizobia survival was a gum arabic/water solution. Perlite was as effective as peat in maintaining a high population of rhizobia, at least for 6 months of storage.
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Temprano, F., Albareda, M., Camacho, M. et al. Survival of several Rhizobium/Bradyrhizobium strains on different inoculant formulations and inoculated seeds. Int Microbiol 5, 81–86 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10123-002-0067-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10123-002-0067-y