Legume-Rhizobium technology manual

This manual is a compilation of methods used in studying legume-Rhizobium relationships in the Environmental Sciences Division at ILCA. These methods are similar to those used in other soil microbiology laboratories around the world, but most of them have been adapted to suit equipment available and local conditions at ILCA. The procedures presented and discussed are isolation, culture, authentication and storage of Rhizobia, enumeration of Rhizobia, strain characterization, Rhizobium strain identification, plant infection methods in microbiologically controlled growth systems, preparation and use of inoculants for research, evaluation of the legume-Rhizobium symbiosis for nitrogen fixation potential, screening Rhizobium strains for nodulation competitiveness, analysis of nitrogen in soils and plants, field methods for evaluating biological nitrogen fixation and composition of legume mulch and farm yard manure.