Melilotus Indica Research Articles

Serological Studies in Medicago, Melilotus, and Trigonella (Leguminosae). II. Relationships of Critical Taxa of Sections Medicago and Lupularia of the Genus Medicago

Antisera produced against Medicago radiata, Medicago lupulina, Melilotus officinalis, and Melilotus indica were reacted against these species after preabsorption with representative species of Medicago, Melilotus, and Trigonella. The serological data from immunodiffusion and immunoelectrophoretic tests confirm a close serological relationship among taxa of the three genera. The results support and emphasize the isolated positions of M. lupulina, Medicago secundiflora, and M. radiata vis-a-vis the remaining species of Medicago. The first two species show serological affinities to both Medicago and Melilotus and appear to be in an intermediate position relative to these two genera. Medicago radiata is serologically more distinct from other Medicago species than from Trigonella taxa.

DIOSGENIN AND YAMOGENIN LEVELS IN SOME INDIAN PLANT SAMPLES

Plant material from India was assayed for diosgenin plus yamogenin by an improved procedure. Twelve samples of Trigonella foenum-graecum whole seed gave O.6 %–1 % m.f.b. with a diosgenin to yamogenin ratio of 3:2; three samples of T. corniculata seed (freed from seed of Melilotus indica)

Reactions of various plant species to inoculation with potato aucuba mosaic virus

Inoculation with PAMV produced local lesions inGomphrena globosa andPhaseolus vulgaris cv. Bruine stam.Browallia americana, B. viscosa, Cyphomandra betacea, Melilotus indicus, Lycopersicon pimpinellifolium, Nicotiana amplexicaulis, N. clevelandii, N. maritima, N. nudicaulis, N. setchellii andN. solanifolia were symptomless hosts.Melilotus sulcatus was not susceptible. Sugar pea cultivars included in our experiments were better local-lesion hosts than the common pea cultivars. Although severity of symptoms differed with the virus isolate, it was not possible to distinguish PAMV isolates with seed-grown hosts. Using a range of potato cultivars was more reliable. A recently found isolate of PAMV, which did not induce symptoms in potato cv. Record, behaved similarly to other isolates on the above-mentioned species.

Root Growth Responses of <i>Melilotis indicus</i> (L.) All. to Air Pollution

The root length, root biomass and net primary productivity of Melilotus indicus were studied at the monthly intervals from a wheat cropland, growing at the four selected sites situated at 0.5, 2, 4 and 20 km leeward from the source of pollution caused by coal burning of a thermal power plant of Kasimpur (U.P, India). Root growth varied with the level of pollution, age of the stand and the coal consumption rate as well as the release of major gases from the power plant. The data indicate that the degree of response increased with decreasing distance from the source of pollution. The root length and root biomass were affected significantly at the 0.5 and 2 km. respectively in the seedling stage, while in the middle and old stages the loss significantly increased up to 4 km in comparison to the reference site situated at 20 km away from the source of pollution. The percent loss in the root growth of M. indicus increased from seedling to middle stage and decline at the old stage. Root length, root biomass and net primary productivity suffered greater in the middle stage, may be due to high coal consumption and greater release of gaseous pollutants from the power plant. The root length and root biomass showed a significant positive relationship with the distance from the source.Key words: Air pollution, root growth, Melilotus indicus, wheat cropland, biomass. DOI: 10.3126/eco.v16i0.3470ECOPRINT 16: 29-34, 2009

Symbiotic characteristics of Rhizobium meliloti from the brown acid soils of the Macquarie region of New South Wales.

Thirty-three isolates of Rhizobim meliloti were obtained from the brown acid soils of the Macquarie region of New South Wales and their symbiotic behaviour in association with 11 species of Merlicago and three species of Melilotus was investigated in the laboratory. In respect of nodule formation, there were two distinct types of Rhizobiurn and the hosts formed three groups. In respect of nitrogen fixation there were six strain types and seven host, groupings. These host and bacterial groups could be arranged in a series. Several of the strains of rhizobia, and one in particular, were found to fix a high level of nitrogen with a number of hosts, but, except for ;Medicago denticulata Willd. and Melilotus indica (L.) All. which behaved identically in all features of the symbiosis studied, no definit'e groupings on this criterion were apparent in either hosts or bacteria. The possible application of the results to the selection of strains of' Rhizobium meliloti suitable for seed inoculation is discussed.

Effect of covercrops on the soil solution at different depths under orchard conditions

Abstract does not appear. First page follows. Two earlier papers(4), (5) have presented progress reports concerning changes in concentration of the more important ions in the soil solution under a variety of covercrop treatments and with different species of trees. These results were obtained from the orchard of the Pomology Division of the California Agricultural Experiment Station at Davis. The crop history has been given(4) in a former paper and is not essential for consideration of the data given here. The plot treatments were alfalfa sod (Medicago sativa); a summer covercrop of mat bean (Phaseolus aconitifolius), which was superseded by Dolichos lablab in the seasons 1931 and 1932; and winter covercrops of rye (Secale cereale) and of Melilotus indica. These were all compared with three clean-cultivated checks. The treatments were duplicated. They ran in strips across the species plantings of pears, prunes, apples, Japanese plums, cherries, apricots, and peaches as shown in figure 1. The method used in obtaining the soil solution has been described elsewhere(3), and is essentially a displacement rather than an extraction with an excess of water.