Effect Of Dual Inoculation With Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi And Rhizobium Sullae On Sulla Flexuosa L. Growth And Performance

Abstract

Improving ecologic agriculture by reducing chemical fertilizers is vital to the sustainability of soil productivity. One standard method employed includes mobilizing and assessing the services the soil mycorrhizae and rhizobia provide. This study builds on this literature to evaluate whether single or double inoculation with Rhizobium sullae and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) could improve the development of Sulla flexuosa L. In doing so, we collected soils from the rhizosphere where Sulla flexuosa L., spontaneously grows, trapped (AMF) using the roots of sorghum and isolated the bacteria from Sulla flexuosa L., nodules. The 16s rRNA gene sequencing analysis was employed to identify the bacterial strains. The Sulla flexuosa L. seeds were inculcated with Rhizobium sullae individually and in combination with AMF under controlled conditions. Results revealed a slight diversity among the isolated bacteria, while the phylogenetic analysis indicated the relatedness of a representative strain to Rhizobium sullae. Morphological characterization of (AMF) spores displayed the presence of four genera: Scutelospora sp, Glomus sp, Septoglomus sp and Acaulospora sp. The inoculation with(AMF) and Rhizobium sullae demonstrated an increase of 38% in stem height and 46% in roots length; it also showed an improvement of 153% for the shoots dry biomass and 144% for the roots dry biomass of Sulla flexuosa L.,. The results demonstrate many opportunities for applying controlled mycorrhization in nurseries and in other degraded areas to produce good-quality forage.