Sustainable effect of a symbiotic nitrogen‐fixing bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti on nodulation and photosynthetic traits of four leguminous plants under low moisture stress environment

Abstract

Sustainable effect of a nitrogen fixing bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti on nodulation and photosynthetic traits (phenomenological fluxes) in four leguminous plants species under low moisture stress (20‐25% Soil Moisture Content) environment was studied. S. meliloti was isolated from Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum‐graecum) root nodules and later it was cultured and purified. Nodulation and photosynthetic ability in presence of S. meliloti were tested in four leguminous plant species i.e., kidney bean (cv. lobia‐2000), black bean (cv. NM‐97), mung bean (cv. NM‐2006) and chickpea (cv. Pb‐2008). Plants of each species were grown in sterilized soil which was previously treated with 25mL suspension containing S. meliloti at 41×10⁶ cfu mL^‐1 kg^‐1 pot. One month‐old plants were subjected to low soil moisture stress conditions for 15days and soil moisture contents were maintained to 20‐25% throughout experimental period. Ability to fix nitrogen, nodules formation and their subsequent effect on phenomenological fluxes in low moisture treated legumes were studied.