Abstract

The diversity of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii strains in nodules of clover (Trifolium) species is known to be large, but little is known about differences among Trifolium species in their selection of Rhizobium strains. An indigenous Rhizobium population was sampled from root nodules of alsike clover (Trifolium hybridum L. cv. Stena), red clover (T. pratense L. cv. Betty) and white clover (T. repens L. cv. Undrom) growing within an area of 15 x 15 cm in the field in northern Sweden. Ten Rhizobium isolates from each host species were identified by ERIC-PCR genome fingerprinting which revealed large genotypic diversity among the isolates. There was no indication of host-related grouping of the isolates. Six isolates with different ERIC-PCR fingerprints, two from each host species, could all induce root nodules on all three Trifolium species. Plants grown for two months in the greenhouse with N2 as the only N source showed a large variation in shoot N content depending on which Rhizobium isolate had been used as inoculant. The results indicate that T. hybridum, T. pratense and T. repens can become infected with the same Rhizobium strains, but the N2 fixation efficiency may vary considerably among different Trifolium-Rhizobium combinations

Keywords

ERIC-PCR; host-specificity; N2 fixation; Rhizobium; Trifolium

Published in

ISBN: 91-576-6805-1
Publisher: Department of Ecology and Crop Production Science, SLU

Conference

Adaptation and Mangement of Forage Legumes – Strategies for Improved Reliability in Mixed Swards

SLU Authors

• Carlsson, Georg

  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Huss-Danell, Kerstin

  • Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Agricultural Science


Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/6374