Abstract
Effects of acidic soil factors (Al, H-ion, Mo, and Mn) upon the soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr. cv. Essex)/Bradyrhizobium japonicum symbiosis were examined in acidified soil. Plants were grown under full sunlight in pots containing N-deficient soil (pH 6.7) or similar soil amended with sufficient Al2(SO4)3 or elemental S to give soil pH values of 4.8 and 4.6, respectively, and water-extractable Al levels of 30 and 14 μM, respectively. Other treatments consisted of the addition of inorganic N or inoculation with commercial or locally-isolated B. japonicum. Acidification did not reduce shoot or root weights of plants receiving inorganic N but reduced (P≤0.05) shoot and root dry weights, nodule dry weights and numbers, shoot N concentrations, and chlorophyll levels of inoculated plants. Shoot dry weights and nodulation of inoculated plants were greater (P≤0.05) in Al2(SO4)3-amended soil than in S-amended soil. Addition of Mo was not beneficial. It was concluded that reduced plant growth was caused by the effects of acidified soil on nodulation and that H-ion toxicity was probably the most limiting factor. Effects of Al, Mn, or Mo appeared less likely.
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Cline, G.R., Kaul, K. Inhibitory effects of acidified soil on the soybean/Bradyrhizobium symbiosis. Plant Soil 127, 243–249 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014432
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00014432