The efficacy of strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens, Bacillus megaterium and Azospirillum spp. in in vitro solubilization of Ca3PO4 was studied. Pseudomonas fluorescens and Bacillus megaterium strains were the most powerful phosphate solubilizers on Pikovskaya (PVK) plates and liquid medium. Azospirillum lipoferum strains showed weak zones of solubilization on the PVK plates. Phosphate solubiliz...

Sinorhizobium meliloti forms symbiotic, nitrogen-fixing nodules on the roots of Medicago truncatula. The bacteria invade and colonize the roots through structures called infection threads. S. meliloti unable to produce the exopolysaccharide succinoglycan are unable to establish a symbiosis because they are defective in initiating the production of infection threads and in invading the plant. He...

Lentil plays a major role in the food and nutritional security of low income Ethiopian families because of the high protein content of their seed; however, their productivity typically is low largely due to soil fertility limitations. Field and pot experiments were conducted during the 2011 cropping season to determine the effectiveness of Rhizobium strains on two cultivars of lentil in Souther...

The effect of Mo on nitrate reductase and nitrogenase activities as well as the growth and mineral nutrition of wheat inoculated with Azospirillum brasilense in greenhouse pot experiments under drought stress conditions was evaluated. Plant dry weight and total N-yield appeared to be drastically affected by the severe drought stress. This inhibition was associated with a decline in nitrate redu...

Plant-soil feedback (PSF) and plant competition play an important role in structuring vegetation composition, but their interaction remains unclear. Recent studies suggest that competing plants could dilute pathogenic effects, whereas the standing view is that competition may increase the sensitivity of the focal plant to PSF. In agro-ecosystems each of these two options would yield contrasting...

The effects of two entomopathogenic fungal endophytes, Beauveria bassiana and Purpureocillium lilacinum (formerly Paecilomyces lilacinus), were assessed on the reproduction of cotton aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Homoptera:Aphididae), through in planta feeding trials. In replicate greenhouse and field trials, cotton plants (Gossypium hirsutum) were inoculated as seed treatments with two concent...

We have previously shown that the beneficial filamentous fungus Trichoderma virens secretes the highly effective hydrophobin-like elicitor Sm1 that induces systemic disease resistance in the dicot cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). In this study we tested whether colonization of roots by T. virens can induce systemic protection against a foliar pathogen in the monocot maize (Zea mays), and we further...

Tomato yellow leaf curl disease (TYLCD) is a severe threat to tomato crops worldwide and is caused by Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) and several other begomoviruses (genus Begomovirus, family Geminiviridae). Host plant resistance is the best TYLCD control method but limited sources of resistance are available. In this study, two Solanum habrochaites TYLCD-resistance sources, EELM-388 and...

The fungus Gnomonia comari, causal agent of strawberry leaf blotch, was inoculated at the crown of young axenized strawberry plants growing in sterilized sand. Only the roots were colonized, and the infection was symptomless. When the fungus colonized the roots in the presence of the root lesion nematode Pratylenchus penetrans, the plants were extremely stunted and their root system was necroti...

The plant growth, phosphate acquisition, Cd translocation, phytochelatins (PCs) production and antioxidant parameters [superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), guaiacol peroxidase (POD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), glutathione reductase (GR), glutathione (GSH), ascorbate (ASA) and malonaldehyde (MDA)] were investigated in Cd-hyperaccumulator Solanum photeinocarpum inoculated with Glomus vers...