ISSN:
1573-5036
Keywords:
15N
;
nitrogen fixation
;
plant breeding
;
Vicia faba
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Fishery, Domestic Science, Nutrition
Notes:
Abstract Before starting a breeding program aimed at improving the nitrogen nutrition ofVicia faba, the authors tried an alternative technique to the acetylene reduction assay, to measure some genetic variability in the plant material. The quantity of dinitrogen fixed by several cultivars ofVicia faba was estimated using a low enrichment15N tracer method and high precision15N mass spectrometry. The fababeans were cultivated for two years in two different soils. The percentage of fixed dinitrogen in the seed varied between genotypes from 40 to 83% of the total nitrogen and was positively correlated with the total seed nitrogen (r=0.64 to 0.86). A highly significant positive correlation was also found between the total seed nitrogen and the quantity of fixed dinitrogen in the seed (r=0.95 to 0.99). The technique used to measure dinitrogen fixation proved to be useful and reliable enough to discriminate between various genotypes, grown over a period of two years in two different soils. However, several non-fixing control plants showed significant differences in their15N enrichment and the problem of choosing a good reference plant was raised and discussed.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF02371223
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