“…Hyper-nodulation does not always translate into higher grain yield and some hyper-nodulating soybean genotypes showed high nitrogen-fixing ability only in the early growth stages (Herridge & Rose, 2000;Song, Carroll, Gresshoff, & Herridge, 1995;Wu & Harper, 1991). Hypernodulation incites a re-routing of carbohydrates to maintain the metabolic activities of a larger nodule biomass resulting in reduced shoot biomass production (Videira et al, 2001). However, improved vegetative growth in shoots and roots, due to enhanced nitrogen-fixing ability per plant, was found in the hyper-nodulating soybean cultivar Sakukei 4, especially after flowering when compared to conventional hypernodulating cultivars (Takahashi, Shimada, Nakayama, & Arihara, 2005).…”