Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Impact of inoculation with indigenous Rhizobium isolates on the seedling growth of Acacia gerrardii (Benth) subspecies negevensis under salinity and drought stress

Author(s):

Nader D. Shetta ^{1, 2}*, Thobayet S. Al-Shahrani ¹

Recieved Date: 2014-01-12, Accepted Date: 2014-03-30

Abstract:

Pot experiments were conducted under greenhouse conditions to evaluate the impacts of salinity and drought stress on the growth and symbiosis of seedlings of Acacia gerrardii subsp. negevensis. Rhizobium isolates KSA5, KSA6 and KSA8 were obtained from root nodules of Acacia ampliceps (Maslin), Acacia tortilis subsp. tortilis (Forssk.) and Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) grown in the Dirab Valley south of Riyadh City in Saudi Arabia. The seed of Acacia gerrardii subsp. negevensis was obtained from Al Marbaa Park at Asser region South of Kingdom and planted in greenhouse of the Range and Forestry Applied Research Unit at Experimental Station of Faculty of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Tolerance to temperature, pH and salt were assessed for each isolate. The results showed that the Rhizobia isolates tolerated temperatures of up to 30°C and grew at pH 5.5 to 8.5 as well as in the presence of high concentrations of NaCl up to 2% w/v. Salinity and drought stress had negative effects on seedlings growth but even stronger negative impacts on nodulation. Under these stresses, the isolates were able to modify the nodules on the roots of A. gerrardii subsp. negevensis, but this ability declined as salinity increased and drought progressed. Rhizobium isolate KSA5 was a superior competitor in its ability to cope with these stresses compared with isolates KSA6 and KSA8. Hence, it can be concluded that inoculating seedlings with indigenous Rhizobium isolates may improve the tolerance of Acacia gerrardii subsp. negevensis seedlings to salinity and drought stress in the nursery stage.

Keywords:

Acacia gerrardii, drought, indigenous Rhizobium, growth, nodulation, nursery, salinity, Saudi Arabia

---

Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2014
Volume: 12
Issue: 2
Category: Environment
Pages: 1220-1226

---

Full text for Subscribers

---

Information:

Note to users

The requested document is freely available only to subscribers/registered users with an online subscription to the Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment. If you have set up a personal subscription to this title please enter your user name and password. All abstracts are available for free.

Article purchasing

If you like to purchase this specific document such as article, review or this journal issue, contact us. Specify the title of the article or review, issue, number, volume and date of the publication. Software and compilation, Science & Technology, all rights reserved. Your use of this website details or service is governed by terms of use. Authors are invited to check from time to time news or information.

---

Purchase this Article:   20 Purchase PDF Order Reprints for 15

---

Share this article :