EFFECTS OF HEAVY METALS ON GROWTH AND NODULATION OF RHIZOBIUM SP. IN VIGNA RADIATE (L.) WILCZEK

Abstract

Nowadays heavy metal contamination is widespread in the lithosphere as well as in the hydrosphere. Huge
territories of land have been debased with substantial metals because of the utilization of pesticides, manures,
and fertilizer squanders, and furthermore because of overwhelming metal discharge from purifying industries
and metalliferous mines. To avoid the contamination of heavy metals from polluted water and soil
phytoremediation process is used, which includes plants like some floating hydrophytes and legumes.
Rhizobium is a genus of gram-negative soil bacteria that fix nitrogen by symbiotic association with leguminous
plants and usually form root nodules. Treatment with CdCl2 and NiCl2 had the most harmful impact on the
growth of Rhizobium. Nodulation boundaries e.g. number of plants nodulated, number of nodules per plant,
number of nodules per gram fresh weight of the roots, nodule dry weight per plant, and weight of the nodule
were inhibited, the hindrance being fixation subordinate. The impact was indistinguishable in all the
overwhelming metal salts tried. Inhibitory consequences for nodulation have been evaluated because of the
restraint of the development of Rhizobium by the impact of the overwhelming metal salts. These Rhizobia can
be utilized as inoculants for crop legumes under ominous ecological states of agrobiological systems or as of
late recovered desert