A determination of protective microhabitats for bacteria introduced into soil

1 February 1991

journal article
Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in FEMS Microbiology Letters

Vol. 85 (1) , 73-80
https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-1097(91)90633-l

Abstract

Survival studies with rhizobia introduced into loamy sand showed that a kaolinite amendment of the soil improved the survival of Rhizobium, and that bentonite had a very strong positive effect on rhizobial survival. The survival level was significantly higher in soil amended with 10% than with 5% bentonite. The amount of water present in the bentonite amended soil had a significant influence on rhizobial survival; in drier soil, survival levels were highest. For the loamy sand, the loamy sand amended with 5 and 10% bentonite or with 10% kaolinite, the number of rhizobial cells surviving on day 57 after introducing 2.5–5.0×10⁷ cells g⁻¹ dry soil could be described using the distribution of pores from three size classes in a mathematical relationship. Pores with necks < 3 µm and between 3 and 6 µm positively affected the survival of introduced rhizobia whereas pores with necks > 6 µm had a negative effect.

Keywords

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