Growth of a leguminous tree (Centrolobium tomentosum Guill. ex Benth.) inoculated with Rhizobium and mycorrhizal fungi.

ABSTRACT

Leguminous trees are being suggested for revegetation programs due to their ability to develop associations with rhizobia and mycorrhizal fungi. The growth of a native species of the Tropical Atlantic Forest, Centrolobium tomentosum, was evaluated in a native forest soil and in a Eucalyptus forest soil under different treatments of inoculation. C. tomentosum produced more biomass under nursery conditions after inoculation with Rhizobium BHICB-Ab1 associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM). This treatment improved shoot and root growth and nodule weight under forest soil condition, while in eucalyptus soil only shoot biomass and nodule weight were significantly modified. In another experiment, using forest soil, height and stem diameter were also increased by dual inoculation procedures. The height and diameter growth promoting effect was observed when BHICB-Ab1 was used as inoculant associated with AM, but not with BHICB-Ab1 alone. In contrast, plants inoculated with BHICB-Ab3 alone were similar in height and diameter growth, to those which were inoculated with BHICB-Ab3 associated with AM. These results suggest that benefits of dual inoculation depend on triparty symbiosis and especially on the choice of Rhizobium strain.