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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1981 February; 41(2): 342-345

Plant Yield and Nitrogen Content of a Digitgrass in Response to Azospirillum Inoculation

¹ Department of Agronomy, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611
² Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Division of Tropical Plants and Pastures, Cunningham Laboratory, Brisbane, Australia 4067
³ Microbiology Department, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 4067

ABSTRACT

Two Australian soils, a vertisol (pH 6.8, 0.299% N) and a sandy yellow podzol (pH 6.2, 0.042% N), were used with digitgrass, Digitaria sp. X46-2 (PI 421785), in a growth room experiment. Comparisons were made between plants inoculated with live and autoclaved bacterial suspensions of Australian and Brazilian isolates of Azospirillum brasilense. Seedlings were inoculated on days 10 and 35. Acetylene-reducing activity was measured five times during the experiment. Dry matter yields of the digitgrass on the podzol (low N) inoculated with live bacteria were 23% higher than those of the controls. On the vertisol (high N), yield increases from inoculation with live bacteria were 8.5%. The higher-yielding plants had significantly lower percent nitrogen, but when total nitrogen of the tops was calculated, the inoculated plants had a higher total N than did the controls (P=0.04). Acetylene-reducing activity was variable in the experiment, ranging from 0.5 to 11.9 µmol of C₂H₄ core^–1 day^–1. Live bacterial treatment induced a proliferation of roots, possible earlier maturity, higher percent dry matter, and a higher total N in the tops.

Journal paper no. 2058 from Florida Agricultural Experiment Station.