Author
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Harper, James |
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Submitted to: International Botanical Congress
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 8/1/1999 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The role of symbiotic N2 fixation has become increasingly important in sustainable agricultural systems. Soil nitrogen availability continues to be a primary limitation to symbiotic N2 fixation by legumes. Results indicate that overcoming this limitation is more likely to succeed with manipulation of the plant rather than the bacteria. Soybean and common bean mutants have been isolated which lack autoregulatory control of nodule number and have been shown to be partially tolerant to nitrate. This has not yet proven to be of agronomic advantage, likely due to the restricted root growth of these mutants. Autoregulatory control of nodule number has been shown to be common among several legume species, indicating the conserved nature of this genetic control. Improvement of symbiotic N2 fixation appears more realistic in grain legumes than in forage legumes; the latter already derive a greater proportion of nitrogen from symbiotic N2 fixation. |
