Styrofoam Cup-Membrane Assembly for Studying Microorganism-Root Interactions

Abstract

An assembly consisting of Styrofoam cups with membranes of varying porosities was developed to study microorganism-root interactions. The assembly permitted uniform distribution of a bacterium in soil and was simple, easy to use, and disposable. In tests with the bacterium Pseudomonas solanacearum , little difference in P. solanacearum survival was observed in the rhizosphere or nonrhizosphere of tomato.