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Open AccessArticle
Development of a Rhizobium Seed Coating to Establish Lupine Species on Degraded Rangelands
by
Bridget M. Church
Bridget M. Church 1,
Brad Geary
Brad Geary 1,
Joel Griffitts
Joel Griffitts 2,
Curtis L. Drake
Curtis L. Drake 1
,
Kate Ruebelmann
Kate Ruebelmann 3,
Shannon V. Nelson
Shannon V. Nelson 1
and
Matthew D. Madsen
Matthew D. Madsen 1,*
1
Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
2
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
3
Rehabilitation, Projects & Engineering, Rio Tinto Kennecott, South Jordan, UT 84095, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Plants 2024, 13(15), 2101; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13152101 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 29 May 2024
/
Revised: 17 July 2024
/
Accepted: 19 July 2024
/
Published: 29 July 2024
Abstract
Restoring native plant species on degraded landscapes is challenging. Symbiotic partners in the plant rhizosphere can aid in nutrient acquisition, pathogen protection, stress tolerance, and many other processes. However, these microbes are often absent in altered landscapes and need to be re-integrated to improve restoration efforts. We evaluated, within a laboratory setting, the ability of commercial and indigenous rhizobia strains to form nodules on lupine species used for rangeland seedings in the Great Basin region of the Western United States and ascertained if these strains could be applied through a seed coating. We also evaluated if a compost amendment applied via seed coating could further enhance the performance of the rhizobia strains. Our analysis showed that successful nodulation could occur using commercial and wildland-collected indigenous strains through either a liquid culture applied to seedlings or as a dry seed coating. However, the number of root nodules and the presence of a pink color (indicating nitrogen fixation) were typically higher in the commercial product than in the indigenous strains. Compost did not improve nodulation or the performance of the nodules; however, this treatment alone improved shoot growth. Overall, these results suggest that commercial rhizobium may be more effective in improving plant growth, and future research with native rhizobia may want to consider identifying strains compatible with seed-coating delivery. Longer-term studies are now merited for assessing how the rhizobia strains evaluated in this study influence plant growth, particularly in a field setting.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Church, B.M.; Geary, B.; Griffitts, J.; Drake, C.L.; Ruebelmann, K.; Nelson, S.V.; Madsen, M.D.
Development of a Rhizobium Seed Coating to Establish Lupine Species on Degraded Rangelands. Plants 2024, 13, 2101.
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13152101
AMA Style
Church BM, Geary B, Griffitts J, Drake CL, Ruebelmann K, Nelson SV, Madsen MD.
Development of a Rhizobium Seed Coating to Establish Lupine Species on Degraded Rangelands. Plants. 2024; 13(15):2101.
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13152101
Chicago/Turabian Style
Church, Bridget M., Brad Geary, Joel Griffitts, Curtis L. Drake, Kate Ruebelmann, Shannon V. Nelson, and Matthew D. Madsen.
2024. " Development of a Rhizobium Seed Coating to Establish Lupine Species on Degraded Rangelands" Plants 13, no. 15: 2101.
https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13152101
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