Salinity tolerance of aRhizobium meliloti strain isolated from salt affected soils

The salinity tolerance of aRhizobium meliloti strain isolated from salt-affected soils was examined. Growth of the strain on yeast—mannitol broth containing 0–1.2% NaCl exhibited in all cases the same generation time and simultaneous onset of the stationary phase while the total viable number of cells was the same for three continuous generations. The nodulation, plant yield and elemental composition ofMedicago sativa plants grown on agar slopes, inoculated with cultures from the third generation grown on broth containing 0–1.2% NaCl responded identically to all inocula. The salinity tolerance of the strain in fixing nitrogen was furthermore demonstrated withM. sativa plants grown on either nitrogen-free agar slopes containing 0.2–1.2% NaCl or soil-agar slopes with saline soil in which 0.15 and 0.3% additional NaCl was used.