EFFECT OF ECTO- AND ENDOMYCORRHIZAL FUNGI ALONG WITH <em>BRADYRHIZOBIUM</em> SP. ON THE GROWTH AND NITROGEN FIXATION IN <em>ACACIA</em> <em>NILOTICA</em> SEEDLINGS IN THE NURSERY

Abstract

Acacia nilotica seedlings were grown in steam sterilised and unsterilised soils inoculated with vermiculite inoculum of Pisolithus tinctorius, soil inoculum of Glomus mosseae and liquid inoculum of Bradyrhizobium sp. in the nursery. Various growth parameters were studied on the seven months of growth.
Nitrogenase activity in intact nodules was determined using gas chromatograph. The seedlings grown in sterilised and unsterilised soil with a combination of P. tinctorius, G. mosseae, and Bradyrhizobium sp. inocula showed more mycorrhizal development, total dry weight of shoot and root, number of nodules and weight of nodular tissue. Nodules in the seedlings grown in soils with P. tinctorius and G. mosseae in association with Bradyrhizobium sp. showed a higher level of nitrogenase activity as measured by acetylene reduction when compared to the seedlings grown in soils with other combinations of the above-mentioned organisms and uninoculated seedlings.