Root
Nodule
Bacteria
and
Legumes
- It
is
known
since
long
time
that
fertility
of
agricultural
land
can
be
maintained
by
crop
rotation.
Cultivation
of
leguminous
plant
could
restore
the
declining
levels
of
land
productivity
due
to
cultivation
of
single
crop
(say
a
cereal)
for
several
years.
Root
nodules
contain
large
number
of
bacteroids
small,
rod
shaped
or
branched
bodies
(T,
V
or
V-shaped)
similar
in
size
and
shape
to
bacteria.
M.
W.
Beijerinck
isolated
and
cultivated
the
bacteria
in
1888.
The
bacteria
are
Gram
negative
motile
rods
that
are
classified
in
the
genus
Rhizobium.
Their
numbers
are
very
variable,
depending
upon
the
nature
of
the
soil
and
on
its
previous
agricultural
treatment.
Index >> Growth of Microorganism >>Root Nodule Bacteria and Legumes
|
The
soil
under
nonleguminous
crop
such
as
wheat
may
have
fewer
than
10
Rhizobium
cells
per
gram,
the
same
soil
will
contain
between
10
and
107 cells
of
Rhizobium
following
the
cultivation
of
legume
crop. |
|||||||||