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Effect of Suspending Agent and Temperature on Survival of Rhizobium in Fertilizer
Author(s) -
Kremer R. J.,
Polo J.,
Peterson H. L.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1982.03615995004600030019x
Subject(s) - rhizobia , microbial inoculant , fertilizer , incubation , rhizobium , biology , agronomy , incubation period , chemistry , food science , bacteria , horticulture , nitrogen fixation , inoculation , biochemistry , genetics
The lack of compatibility between legume inoculants and fertilizers has been widely recognized and reported. Studies involving alternative inoculant carriers and methods of inoculant preparation led to an examination of rhizobia incorporation in fertilizer. The effects of suspending agent and incubation temperature on the survival of two strains of Rhizobium in 0‐9‐12 fertilizer were determined using plate counts and most‐probable‐number methods of analyses. Results showed that oil was superior to water in maintaining the viability and effectiveness of two strains of lyophilized rhizobia. A fertilizer incorporated with lyophilized R. phaseoli suspended in oil contained nearly 10 4 viable cells per gram after 24 weeks of incubation at 65°C. In contrast, no R. phaseoli were recovered from a fertilizer containing a water suspension of lyophilized cells after 8 weeks of incubation at 25°C. These results strongly suggest that fertilizer and lyophilized rhizobia may be combined to form an effective inoculant if adequate precautions are taken to protect the rhizobia from rehydration.