DIVERSITY AND SYMBIOTIC EFFECTIVENESS OF RHIZOBIUM ISOLATES COLLECTED FROM DIFFERENT FABA BEAN

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.