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Ecology of Rhizobium

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Biological Nitrogen Fixation

Abstract

The inability to predict why legumes develop poorly and fix little nitrogen in fertile soil containing Rhizobium strains active in the symbiosis frequently results from the lack of knowledge of the ecology of the root-nodule bacteria. If the appropriate host and an effective bacterium are both present in fertile land, there ought to be active nitrogen fixation. The fact that often no such appreciable nitrogen gain is evident or the fixation is insufficient to meet the crop demand for this element is not a function of a genetically poor pair of symbionts under these conditions, but rather is a consequence of the inability of the bacteria to survive, grow in soil, colonize the roots, or bring about nodule formation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Soil Microbiology, Department of Agronomy, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA

    Martin Alexander

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  1. Martin Alexander
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA

    Martin Alexander

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© 1984 Plenum Press, New York

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Alexander, M. (1984). Ecology of Rhizobium . In: Alexander, M. (eds) Biological Nitrogen Fixation. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2747-9_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-2747-9_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9701-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-2747-9

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