RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The research aimed at studying the biological characteristics of rhizobia isolated from Abrus cantoniensis. METHOD: The rhizobia strains, isolated from different environments in Guangxi, were studied for their growing characters and the generation time. They were also compared for survival capabilities under stresses caused by NaCl, pH, temperature, and different kinds and concentration of antibiotics. RESULT: The strains obtained from A. cantoniensis in subtropical zone produced alkali in YMA medium, the average generation time was 14.8 hours, and thus they belong to slow-growing rhizobia. Rhizobia strains differed greatly in respect to tolerance of high temperature, adaptability of acidic environment and sensitivity to four antibiotics, but they had the same abilities of using different carbon and nitrogen sources. After 70 days from inoculated strains, the seedling formed nodules on the root (85.0%), and the dry matter of vine was increased by 51.1%. CONCLUSION: The rhizobia strains isolated from different ecological environments are good germplasm resources of tolerances to high temperature and acidic environment. The research will greatly help utilize the rhizobia resources and enhance the quality of crude drugs of medicinal leguminosae.