Competition in the Phaseolus vulgaris-Rhizobium symbiosis and the role of resident soil rhizobia in determining the outcomes of inoculation.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Inoculation of legumes with effective N₂-fixing rhizobia is a common practice to improve farming profitability and sustainability. To succeed, inoculant rhizobia must overcome competition for nodulation by resident soil rhizobia that fix N₂ ineffectively. In Kenya, where Phaseolus vulgaris (common bean) is inoculated with highly effective Rhizobium tropici CIAT899 from Colombia, response to inoculation is low, possibly due to competition from ineffective resident soil rhizobia. Here, we evaluate the competitiveness of CIAT899 against diverse rhizobia isolated from cultivated Kenyan P. vulgaris.

Methods

The ability of 28 Kenyan P. vulgaris strains to nodulate this host when co-inoculated with CIAT899 was as

SUBMITTER: Mwenda GM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10272266 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature