SYMBIOTIC NITROGEN FIXATION IN THE GENUS CASUARINA

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Abstract
Nodules are present on the roots of trees of several spp. of the non-leguminous Casuarina which now has a widespread tropical distribution. Inoculation of 9 spp.[long dash]C. cunninghamiana, equisetijolia, fraseriana, glauca, lepidophloia, montana, sumatriana, tenuissima, and triangularis[long dash]was accomplished with small nodule pieces as inocula. Cross-inoculation, by the same means, indicated that a single strain of the organism, apparently a bacterium, is capable of infecting these 9 spp. Comparative growth reactions, including growth increment, color of assimilatory branchlets, and N content of whole plant, resulting from 3 series of tests with 4 spp.[long dash]C. cunninghamiana, equisetijolia, glauca, and lepidophloia [long dash]grown in sand culture in 3 groups, (1) with nodules on roots and without N in nutrient, (2) without nodules on roots and with N in nutrient, and (3) without nodules on roots or N in nutrient, have conclusively established that fixation of atmospheric N occurs in the nodules, and that a symbiotic relation exists between the host and the nodule organism.

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