Physical Environment and Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation VI. Nitrogen Retention Within the Nodules of Trifolium Subterraneum L

Abstract

The effect of bacterial strain and root temperature on the retention of nitrogen in the root system of Trifolium Bubterraneum plants was re-examined. The root systems of plants nodulated by the moderately effective Rhizobium trifolii strain NA30 possessed a higher percentage nitrogen than those nodulated by the fully effective strain TAl, although the number of nodules formed by each strain was similar. The difference was due to a greater weight of nodule tissue on the NA30-nodulated plants, and also to a higher percentage nitrogen in the NA30 nodules; this latter effect was due to a higher concentration of non-protein nitrogen. The overall effect of these differences was to reduce the amount of nitrogen translocated to the shoots of the NA30 plants, in both absolute terms and as a proportion of the total amount of nitrogen fixed. Another difference between the two strains was the rate of nitrogen fixation per unit (dry weight or leghaemoglobin content) of nodule tissue.