Abstract:
Biological nitrogen fixation is a natural process for fixation of molecular nitrogen to maintain
sustainable agriculture throughout the world. Thus, the aim of this study was to isolate,
characterize and select potential Rhizobium strains collected from different faba bean growing
areas of North and South Gondar, Ethiopia. About 3kg soil samples from each site with previous
history of faba bean cultivation was collected and brought to the laboratory for further analysis.
A total of 57 Rhizobium isolates were isolated based on infection method. The isolates were
characterized on Yeast Extract Mannitol Agar
Rhizobium isolates revealed shoot dry weight enhancement over nitrogen treated plants of faba
bean on sand culture using pot experiment under controlled greenhouse condition. Dendrogram
analysis shows that isolates were categorized into six major clusters that were again sub clustered
to many. Best isolates for various agro-climatic regions were identified. Therefore, there is a
need for detail study of effective isolates tested on field condition and molecular characterization
for better classification of the Rhizobium isolates.
