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Characterization of Rhizobial Diversity and Relationship of Rhizobial Partner and Legume Performance in Four South Florida Pine Rockland Soils

Pine rocklands are endangered ecosystems unique to south Florida, the Bahamas and Cuba. As a result of their karstic calcium carbonate­rich soil, these systems are limited in phosphorus and nitrogen, making symbiotic associations critical to plant growth. Four leguminous species (Cajanus cajan, Chamaecrista fasciculata, Tephrosia angustissima, and Abrus precatorious) were used to determine the relationship between rhizobial partners and plant performance, and the symbiosis related gene nifH was amplified to characterize the diversity of rhizobial symbionts. Plants were grown in soils from four different south Florida pine rocklands, and a salinity treatment was added to determine how storm surge and sea level rise could affect this symbiotic relationship. While plant performance and nodulation were highly impacted by soil type, salinity did not represent a significant effect. Phylogenetic analysis determined that all four plant species were found to associate with Bradyrhizobium spp. and no rhizobial shift between salinity treatment and soil type was found.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fiu.edu/oai:digitalcommons.fiu.edu:etd-2247
Date28 March 2014
CreatorsSánchez, Vanessa
PublisherFIU Digital Commons
Source SetsFlorida International University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceFIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

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