The Use of Frankia Spores As Inocula For Casuarina equisetifolia Plants

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Botany, Faculty of Science at Qena, South Valley University, 83523 Qena, Egypt

2 Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni-Suef, Egypt

3 Botany Department, Faculty of Science, South Valley University, Qena, Egypt

Abstract

Spores of four Frankia-Casuarina strains were tested for their ability to infect and fix atmospheric
nitrogen in combination with Casuarina equisetifolia plants, after being stored for 3 and 6 months in
different media. The media used were liquid cultures (BAP) and wet or dry polyacrylamide. The Frankia
strains used were: UGL020601, UGL020604, HFPCcI3 and ORS021001. Inoculation with stored spore
inocula showed reduction in total nitrogen content. The reduction ranged between 33 and 88% of freshly
prepared spores-inoculated plants, depending on strain and the inoculum type. The wet gel-incorporated
Frankia strains scored the best values within all treatments. In general, the reduction in plant total
nitrogen was lower after 3 months than after 6 months of storage at 7°C for all treatments indicating
better performance after short storage. The number of nodules decreased gradually with the increase in
storage time for all strains and treatments. For all the tested strains, spores scored better values for
root/shoot and nodules/plant ratios (i.e. lower and higher ratios) for all strains stored for 3 months, as wet
gel, than for other treatments. Dry powdered gel may have an advantage of long "shelf- life" than the
other treatments and may be used also as a preservation medium for large-scale inoculation with Frankia.
In general, it is recommended to store dry or wet gel-immobilized Frankia spores in the refrigerator for
up to 3 months for commercial purposes.

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