Viviana Corich

The beneficial plant growth-promoting association of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii with rice roots

his paper summarizes a multinational collaborative project to search for natural, intimate associations between rhizobia and rice (Oryza sativa L.), assess their impact on plant growth, and exploit those combinations that can enhance grain yield with less dependence on inputs of nitrogen (N) fertilizer. Diverse, indigenous populations of Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii (the clover root-nodule endosymbiont) intimately colonize rice roots in the Egyptian Nile delta where this cereal has been rotated successfully with berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrinum L.) since antiquity. Laboratory and greenhouse studies have shown with certain rhizobial strain-rice variety combinations that the association promotes root and shoot growth thereby significantly improving seedling vigour that carries over to significant increases in grain yield at maturity. Three field inoculation trials in the Nile delta indicated that a few strain-variety combinations significantly increased rice grain yield, agronomic fertilizer N-use efficiency and harvest index. The benefits of this association leading to greater production of vegetative and reproductive biomass more likely involve rhizobial modulation of the plants root architecture for more efficient acquisition of certain soil nutrients [e.g. N, phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), zinc (Zn), sodium (Na) and molybdenum (Mo)] rather than biological N 2 fixation.

Ecology and Plant Growth-Promoting Activities of the Natural Association between Rhizobium Leguminosarum Bv. Trifolii and Rice Roots

Recent studies indicate that rhizobia can associate intimately with various Gramineae. We describe a natural, beneficial association of R. leguminosarum by. trifolii and rice grown in Egyptian fields. A diversity of rice-adapted rhizobia was isolated from nodules of berseem clover inoculated with macerates of field-grown, surface-sterilized rice roots. Selected isolates exhibited plant growth-promoting activities on some rice varieties in gnotobiotic culture, and significant grain yield of rice in two cycles of field inoculation trials. These findings indicate their potential ability to enhance rice production in sustainable agriculture, and current studies should help to define how beneficial rhizobia can adapt to cereals and improve productivity in agronomic cropping systems.