Relationship between Ureide N and N2 Fixation, Aboveground N Accumulation, Acetylene Reduction, and Nodule Mass in Greenhouse and Field Studies with Glycine max L. (Merr)

Abstract

The relationship between ureide N and N(2) fixation was evaluated in greenhouse-grown soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) and lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus L.) and in field studies with soybean. In the greenhouse, plant N accumulation from N(2) fixation in soybean and lima bean correlated with ureide N. In soybean, N(2) fixation, ureide N, acetylene reduction, and nodule mass were correlated when N(2) fixation was inhibited by applying KNO(3) solutions to the plants. The ureide-N concentrations of different plant tissues and of total plant ureide N varied according to the effectiveness of the strain of Bradyrhizobium japonicum used to inoculate plants. The ureide-N concentrations in the different plant tissues correlated with N(2) fixation. Ureide N determinations in field studies with soybean correlated with N(2) fixation, aboveground N accumulation, nodule weight, and acetylene reduction. N(2) fixation was estimated by (15)N isotope dilution with nine and ten soybean genotypes in 1979 and 1980, respectively, at the V9, R2, and R5 growth stages. In 1981, we investigated the relationship between ureide N, aboveground N accumulation, acetylene reduction, and nodule mass using four soybean genotypes harvested at the V4, V6, R2, R4, R5, and R6 growth stages. Ureide N concentrations of young stem tissues or plants or aboveground ureide N content of the four soybean genotypes varied throughout growth correlating with acetylene reduction, nodule mass, and aboveground N accumulation. The ureide-N concentrations of young stem tissues or plants or aboveground ureide-N content in three soybean genotypes varied across inoculation treatments of 14 and 13 strains of Bradyrhizobium japonicum in 1981 and 1982, respectively, and correlated with nodule mass and acetylene reduction. In the greenhouse, results correlating nodule mass with N(2) fixation and ureide N across strains were variable. Acetylene reduction in soybean across host-strain combinations did not correlate with N(2) fixation and ureide N. N(2) fixation, ureide N, acetylene reduction, and nodule mass correlated across inoculation treatments with strains of Bradyrhizobium spp. varying in effectiveness on lima beans. Our data indicate that ureide-N determinations may be used as an additional method to acetylene reduction in studies of the physiology of N(2) fixation in soybean. Ureide-N measurements also may be useful to rank strains of B. japonicum for effectiveness of N(2) fixation.