Some factors affecting growth and survival ofRhizobium spp. in soil-peat cultures

Summary The growth and survival of rhizobium were studied in neutralized and sterilized soil-peat cultures containing alder bog peat, old moss peat, young reed peat, or young moss peat enriched with lucerne meal and sucrose. Although all these media proved to be excellent carriers for rhizobium, old moss peat from the 0–20 cm layer was less favourable than old moss peat from the 20–40 and 40–60 cm layer, while young moss peat proved to be the least satisfactory type of peat. A low storage temperature is always beneficial for the survival of rhizobia. Neutralization with CaCO₃ is to be preferred to that with CaCO₃+KH₂PO₄. Neutralization with NH₄OH exerted a detrimental effect. Much higher numbers of rhizobium were found in sterilized than in unsterilized soil-peat cultures. An antagonistic bacillus, isolated from peat, exerted a marked growth depression on rhizobium when both organisms were inoculated in sterilized soil-peat or in quartz sand media. Sterilization of the media permitted a rapid growth of the rhizobia and favoured their viability during storage, especially in autoclaved media containing nutrients. For the rhizobium ofLotonus bainesii sterilization of the peat proved essential for good growth. A harmful effect on the numbers of rhizobia was noted during the first week after the inoculation of the soil-peat mixtures when autoclaving had been carried out for 5 hours. This harmful effect proved, however, to be of a temporary nature.