IN INOCULANTS Nodulaid - 17th International Nitrogen Fixation ...

17 th International Congress on Nitrogen Fixation
Fremantle, Western Australia
27 November – 1 December 2011
Session Details: Tuesday 29 November 2011
Authors
Concurrent Session 9 – Native Legume RNB
1600 - 1720
Euan K. James 1 , Osei Y. Ampomah 2 , Pietro P.M. Iannetta 1 , Gregory Kenicer 3 , Geoff
Squire 1 , Janet I. Sprent 4 & Kerstin Huss-Danell 2
1 James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee, DD2 5DA, UK
2 Department of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Swedish University of
Agricultural Sciences (SLU), SE-90183 Umeả, Sweden
3 Royal Botanic Garden, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh EH3 5LR, UK
4 Division of Plant Sciences, College of Life Sciences, University of Dundee at James
Hutton Institute, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK
Presentation Title: Nodulation and nitrogen fixation in native legumes in Scotland and Sweden
Presentation Time: 1640 – 1700
Native legumes in temperate and northern areas have received surprisingly little research attention. Our aim was
to get an overview of the nodulation of native legumes in Scotland and Sweden. We collected 24 out of the 47
native legume species in Scotland and 30 out of the 90 in Sweden; 17 species were from both countries. A wide
range of habitats were visited. A majority of our collected legumes, e.g. Lathyrus pratensis, Lotus corniculatus,
Medicago lupulina, Trifolium spp. and Vicia spp. occurred in many habitats such as meadows, edges of
cultivated land, waste ground and road sides. In contrast, other species grew in more specific habitats:
Astragalus danicus, Lathyrus japonicus, L. palustris, Tetragonolobus maritimus and Vicia lutea on sea shores
and A. alpinus, A. frigidus, Oxytropis campestris and O. lapponica in northern and mountain areas. All collected
species were nodulated. Indeterminate (Astragalus, Cytisus, Lathyrus, Medicago, Melilotus, Ononis, Oxytropis,
Trifolium, Ulex and Vicia, spp.) and determinate (Anthyllis, Lotus and Tetragonolobus spp.) nodule types were
represented. Nitrogen fixation was deduced from pink nodule interior. Nodule anatomy, immunolocalization of
nitrogenase and foliar 15 N analysis gave further support for active nitrogen fixation at time of collection. Some
native species are closely related to cultivated species of Lotus, Medicago, Trifolium and Vicia. Root nodule
bacteria from cultivated and native plants of Lotus corniculatus in Sweden mainly belonged to Mesorhizobium loti
even though other Mesorhizobium spp. were associated with some of the naturally growing L. corniculatus plants
(Ampomah & Huss-Danell 2011). It seems that native legumes are important to the N cycle at their sites and, in
addition, some of their root nodule bacteria may be of interest as inoculants in agriculture.
Ampomah OY& Huss-Danell K (2011). Genetic diversity of root nodule bacteria nodulating Lotus corniculatus
and Anthyllis vulneraria in Sweden. Syst Appl Microbiol 34:267-275.
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