Population Changes and Persistence of Rhizobium phaseoli in Soil and Rhizospheres

The impact of legume cultivation on the establishment and persistence of an inoculant strain of Rhizobium phaseoli and its ability to compete with a resident population of R. phaseoli for nodule occupancy was examined utilizing strain-specific fluorescent antibodies. The soil (Hubbard loamy sand) was inoculated homogeneously with 5 × 10⁵ cells per g of soil and confined in plastic cylinders kept in field plots. Inoculated and uninoculated cylinders were either left fallow or planted to two seeds of legumes. Two hosts, navy bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cv. Seafarer and snap bean cv. Picker, as well as a nonhost, soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) cv. Wilkin, were used. Inoculant Viking 1 was highly stimulated in all three rhizospheres sampled at 6 (flowering), 10 (podfill), and 17 (decay) weeks and in the following spring, whereas counts in fallow soil decreased rapidly. Although the overwintering population remained highest in the vicinity of decaying host roots, Viking 1 persisted, even in fallow soil, to produce abundant nodulation of host plants the following spring. Viking 1 was an excellent competitor for nodulation sites on the roots of the hosts; it thoroughly outcompeted the resident population of R. phaseoli, occupying virtually 100% of the nodules under inoculated conditions in all experiments.