In vitro transfer of fixed nitrogen from diazotrophic filamentous cyanobacteria to black mangrove seedlings

Abstract

Two isolates of the diazotrophic filamentous cyanobacterium Microcoleus chthonoplastes, one obtained from black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) pneumatophores and one from cyanobacterial mats, were inoculated onto young mangrove seedlings to evaluate nitrogen transfer from the bacterium to the plants under in vitro conditions in closed system experiments. Total nitrogen and IS N incorporation in plant parts were measured. The levels of total N and IS N in the inoculated leaves were significantly higher than in noninoculated plants. z 1998 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.