Characterization of Rhizobium trifolii isolated from soils of different pH

Abstract

Rhizobium trifolii were isolated from soils along a transect covering a range of soil pH (3.6–5.6) using two varieties of white clover by either growing seedlings directly in soil or in nutrient solution in tubes inoculated with soil. Rhizobia were present at pH 4.5 but absent at pH 3.9. Neither nodule number nor effectiveness were influenced by the method of isolation and the clover variety on which the strain was isolated. There was no relationship between the pH of the soils and either the number of nodules or the effectiveness of the isolates from those soils. Screening the isolates for tolerance of acidity and Al showed that multiplication was unaffected at pH 5.0 but was slowed for all strains at pH 4.5. Multiplication at pH 5.5 was unaffected by 10 μM Al but was inhibited by 50 μM Al. At pH 4.5 all but 16% of the isolates were inhibited by 10 μM Al; none multiplied with 50 μM Al. The strains which multiplied at pH 4.5 with and without Al were isolated equally from soils in the range pH 4.5–5.6. They were also isolated in almost equal proportions from the two varieties of clover and by the two isolation methods. Overall there was little variation in the effectiveness and acid- and Al-tolerance of isolates from these soils of different pH.