Abstract
Three experiments are reported which examine the relative roles of host and Rhizobium genotypes as factors limiting clover (Trifolium repens L.) growth at low soil temperatures.
In the first experiment un-nodulated clover and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) were grown with non-limiting nitrate at root temperatures of 8, 10 and 12°C. The ryegrass had substantially better relative growth rates (RGR) than the clover with the biggest difference occurring at 8°C. Alterations in growth rate with temperature were more marked in clover than in ryegrass but the latter still produced several times more dry matter than clover at each temperature.
In the subsequent experiments clover nodulated with different strains of rhizobia was grown with and without non-limiting additions of nitrate at root temperatures of 9, 12 and 15°C. Plants receiving nitrate generally produced more dry matter than those dependent upon Rhizobium for nitrogen but differences in yield between these treatments did not alter with temperature. This suggests that limitations imposed by nitrogen fixation are similar at both high and low temperatures. Indeed, there was some evidence that nitrogen limitations were rather more pronounced at the highest temperature. The first experiment clearly demonstrated that the clover genotype makes particularly poor use of nitrate at low root temperatures when compared to its common companion perennial ryegrass.
It can be concluded that improvements in spring growth of clover will rest largely with alterations to the plant genotype and its ability to use combined nitrogen for growth at lower temperatures rather than with changes in rhizobia or any symbiotic characters.
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Glendining, M.J., Mytton, L.R. The response of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) seedlings to spring root temperatures: The relative roles of the plant and the Rhizobium bacteria. Plant Soil 113, 147–154 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02280174
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02280174