Effects of Soil Pollution by Cadmium on Nodulation and Nitrogen Fixation Ability of Native Strains of Sinorhizobium meliloti

Heavy metals have deleterious the effects on nodulation and N2 fixation of Rhizobium- Legume symbiosis, due to their inhibitory effects on the growth and activity of both symbionts. This research has been undertaken to evaluate the effect of Cd tolerance of native rhizobial strains on diminution of the Cd detrimental effects on Sinorhizobium meliloti-alfalfa symbiosis. For this purpose, a greenhouse experiment was conducted based on Randomized Complete Block Design. The treatments in this experiment included: plants inoculation with 6 bacterial strains (sensitive, partially tolerant and tolerant to Cd), 5 levels of Cadmium (0, 2, 5, 10, 20 mg/kg soil) and non-inoculated control. In different levels of Cd, the effects of bacterial inoculation on root nodule number and total amount of nitrogen in plant shoot were compared. The results indicated that soil pollution by Cd even at 2 mg/kg had significant effect on symbiotic properties of rhizobial strains, and according to Cd tolerance of various strains, the mentioned effect was different. Decreasing effect of Cd concentration on root nodules and nitrogen concentration in plants that were inoculated with sensitive strains in comparison with plants inoculated with tolerant strains was 68.31% and 40.8%, respectively. In this research, R95m was introduced as the best strain because of its ability for nodulation and nitrogen fixation.