Abstract
The metabolic activities of root nodules formed by Rhizobium tropici UM1899 were measured to test for the effects of geographical origin of the host bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) plant. Under increasing levels of N (0 to 24 mM of NH4NO3), the optimum condition for nitrogen fixation based on nitrogenase activity and allantoin concentration, was obtained between 2 and 4 mM N. Cultivars, including wild accessions from the two major domestication centers in America (Middle America and Andes), were then grown under aseptic conditions with 2 mM NH4NO3 and the rhizobial inoculant. Plant nodulins [leghaemoglobin (Lb), phosphoenolypyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) and glutamine synthetase (GS)], bacterial nitrogenase (NIF) activities as well as allantoin (ALA) concentration in the xylem sap, were assayed in flowering plants. Lb, PEPC, NIF activities and ALA concentrations were strongly affected by cultivar and by the center of origin. GS activity did not vary significantly with either cultivar or center of origin. LB, NIF and ALA were directly related to plant growth and offer opportunities to select for efficient N2-fixing symbioses. There were slight increases in nodulin activities of the domesticated cultivars, but the overall low variability within this material relative to landraces suggests that diversity for biological nitrogen fixation was reduced by domestication.
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Ceccatto, V., Gomes, J., Sarriés, G. et al. Effects of host plant origin on nodulin activities and nitrogen fixation in Phaseolus vulgaris L.. Plant and Soil 204, 79–88 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004331011493
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1004331011493