Symbiotic interactions between chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes and Mesorhizobium strains

Abstract

Legume genotype (GL) x rhizobium genotype (GR) interaction in chickpea was studied using a genetically diverse set of accessions and rhizobium strains in modified Leonard Jars. A subset of effective GL x GR combinations was subsequently evaluated in a pot experiment to identify combinations of chickpea genotypes and rhizobium strains with stable and superior symbiotic performance. A linear mixed model was employed to analyse the occurrence of GL x GR interaction and an additive main effects and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model was used to study patterns in the performance of genotype-strain combinations. We found statistically significant interaction in jars in terms of symbiotic effectiveness that was entirely due to the inclusion of one of the genotypes, ICC6263. No interaction was found in a subsequent pot experiment. The presence of two genetic groups (Kabuli and Desi genepools) did not affect interaction with Mesorhizobium strains. With the exception of a negative interaction with genotype ICC6263 in the jar experiment, the type strain Mesorhizobium ciceri LMG 14989 outperformed or equalled other strains on all chickpea genotypes in both jar and pot experiments. Similar to earlier reports in common bean, our results suggest that efforts to find more effective strains may be more rewarding than aiming for identification of superior combinations of strains and genotypes.

The introduced strain Mesorhizobium ciceri USDA 3378 is more competitive than an indigenous strain in nodulation of chickpea in newly introduced areas of China

“…Advancement in methods of molecular analysis and the enlarged number of studied rhizobial isolates led to the discovery of more chickpea‐nodulating Mesorhizobium species with variation in symbiotic nitrogen fixation potential (Gunnabo et al . 2020). To harvest sufficient nitrogen from atmosphere by symbiotic nitrogen fixation, identifying the best matches of Mesorhizobium species/strain and chickpea genotypes is required (Gunnabo et al .…”

“…However, some rhizobial strains failed to induce nodules in many cases despite having been identified as effective symbionts in earlier studies (Gunnabo et al . 2020). Mesorhizobium ciceri and M. mediterraneum are widely prevalent in many countries except China (Zhang et al .…”

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacterial biofertilizers for crop production: The past, present, and future

“…The variabilities in terms of quantities of fixed N depend much on the type of legume-rhizobia symbiosis which is dictated by several factors like the legume cultivars and genotypes (Gunnabo et al, 2020;Riah et al, 2021), as well as the geographical distributions (Ramoneda et al, 2020). According to Herridge et al (2008), rhizobial inoculants can reduce the annual N fertilization costs by approximately USD 29 ha −1 .…”

Distribution, Characterization and the Commercialization of Elite Rhizobia Strains in Africa

“…In addition, rhizobia with nitrogen fixation ability have been characterized in chickpea ( C. arietinum L.). For instance, various Mesorhizobium were characterized in Ethiopia, including M. ciceri and M. mediterraneum , M. amorphae , M. loti , M. plurifarium , M. opportunistum , M. haukuii , and M. tianshanense [ 71 ]. In Tunisia, the symbiotic performance of M. mediterraneum and M. cicero in chickpea was also observed [ 75 ].…”