Symbiotic and Phenotypic Characteristics of Rhizobia Nodulaing Cowpea （Vigna Unguiculata L. Walp） Grown in Arid Region of Libya （Fezzan）

Symbiotic and phenotypic characteristics of thirty rhiobial isolates obtained from root nodules of two cowpea （Vigna unguiculata L. Walp） cultivars that grown in different sites of Fezzan （Southern part of Libya） were studied. Cultural characteristics and cross-nodulation with Arachis hypogega and Faidherbia albida showed that they were slow-growing rhizobia. Each isolate was found to coexist with non-symbiotic bacteria similar in their cultural characteristics to fast-growing rhizobia. All isolates formed symbiosis with the test plants, but different in their nitrogen-fixation efficiency. Numerical analysis of phenotypic characteristics showed that at boundary level of 70% average similarity, the isolates formed four distinguished groups and two isolates remained separate. Most isolates exhibited wide tolerance to acidity, alkalinity and extreme temperatures. They also resistant to some heavy metals such as mercury, copper, zinc, lead, cadmium and aluminum at low concentrations and antibiotics like polymyxin, colistin, bacitracin and nalidixic acid. Isolates displayed different response to salinity ranging from sensitive, which unable to grow in 1% NaCI to resistant and grow at 2% NaCl or above. Urea was hydrolyzed by most of them and carbohydrates utilizations were different. Sucrose and maltose were metabolized by most of the test isolates, whereas, monosaccharide and sugar alcohols were poorly utilized.

Dry Matter Partitioning, Nodulation and Seed Traits of Medium and Late Maturing Soybean Varieties as Affected by Planting Pattern and Plant Density

An experiment was conducted on Fluvisols of Awassa for two consecutive years （2005-2006） to determine effects of planting pattern and plant density on dry matter accumulation, nodulation, protein and oil content in early and late maturing soybean varieties. Results indicated that Awassa-95 variety produced significantly higher （P 〈 0.05） number of nodules/plant （NDN）, nodule dry matter （NDM） and leaf dry matter （LDM at R2 （mid flowering） stage of soybean growth than that of variety Belessa-95）. Similarly, variety Awassa-95 （45%） produced significantly higher protein content than variety Belessa-95 （40%）. However, variety Belessa-95 accumulated significantly higher （P 〈 0.01） dry matter in straw, grain and total biomass at R7 （physiological maturity） stage of soybean growth than variety Awassa-95. Similarly, oil content of variety Belessa-95 （18.1%） was significantly （P 〈 0.05） higher than that of variety Awassa-95 （15.9%）. Equidistant rows produced significantly higher （P 〈 0.05） NDM than either rectangular or paired rows. Moreover, soybean plants grown in both rectangular and equidistant rows produced significantly higher （P 〈 0.01） straw dry matter than those grown in paired rows; but, grain dry matter/plant （GDM） was significantly higher （P 〈 0.01） paired and rectangular rows compared to equidistant rows. Plant density also affected the per plant GDM production as it was significantly higher （P 〈 0.01） in 20 and 30 plants/m2 than higher plant densities （40 and 50 plants/m2）. However, dry matter and yield components had strong negative association with protein content. In fact, strong positive correlation （R 〉 0.600） occurred between grain yield and its components with dry matter components at R2 （stem dry matter （SDM）, leaf dry matter （LDM） and stem ＋ nodule ＋ leaf dry matter together known as TDM） and straw dry matter at R7 in both varieties. This study depicted that soybean plants that produce higher dry matter components at R2 would probably produce more straw dry matter, greater grain yield components and higher grain yield dry matter at later stages.

The Effect of Priming on Seed Performance of Chickpea （Cicer arietinum L.） under Drought Stress

In order to investigate the effect of priming on Chickpea seed performance under drought stress, a study was carried out at the Seed Research Laboratory of Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. The experiment was a factorial with three factors arranged in a completely randomized design with four replications. The first factor was seed priming （control （untreated）, HB-101 （Completely organic herbal extracts, derived from the bark of dark cones）, KNO3 and distilled water）, the second was drought stress levels （0.0, -0.3, -0.6, -0.9, -1.2 MPa） and the third was chickpea cultivars （Arman and Azar）. Results indicated that for both cultivars germination percentage （GP）, mean germination rate （MGR）, radicle length （RL）, plumule length （PL） and seedling dry weight （SDW） were reduced when drought stress level were increased from 0 to -!.2 Mpa, although, the cultivars showed different responses to the increased drought stress level. For all of the traits under study, the best results due to the priming treatments were obtained at the drought stress levels higher than -0.6 or -0.9 MPa. So that, at the -1.2 MPa of drought stress level, GP, MGR, and SDW were increased 53.75, 0.49, and 13.85, respectively by HB -101 when compared with control. However, seeds primed with HB-101 showed better performance than those primed with distilled water and KNO3. In general, this study revealed that seed priming especially with HB-101 improved chickpea seed performance under drought stress condition. However, the improvements were more obvious at the higher levels of drought stress.

Response of Germination Physiology of Cajanus cajan Seeds to Drought Stress: Comparison between Karst Water and Allogenic Water Treatments

In this paper, responses of germination physiology of pigeon pea （Cajanus cajan） seeds to drought stress in karst water environment and non-karst （allogenic） water environment were studied to explore the adaptability of pigeon pea to karst environment. The results showed that： （i） Under drought stress of 20% PEG- 6000, the germination rate, vigor index, germination index and biomass of pigeon pea seeds on day 7 cultivated with karst water were all greater than that of the allogenic water treatment group, while the seed germination stress index was significantly smaller than that of the allogenic water treatment group, suggesting that karst water environment was more favorable to pigeon pea seed germination. （ii） Without drought stress, the malondialdehyde （MDA） and superoxide dismutase （SOD） activities of pigeon pea seeds cultivated with karst water were all smaller than that of the allogenic water group. However, under drought stress, the SOD activity was significantly higher than that of allogenic water group, suggesting pigeon pea SOD in karst water was able to more rapidly respond to external drought stress, and increase its own activity to reduce the damage to the plants. And （iii） with and without drought stress, the soluble protein level of the karst water group was higher than that of the allogenic water group, while the free amino acid level was lower than that of the allogenic water group. This difference was more significant with the presence of drought stress, suggesting that the karst water environment was more favorable to the accumulation of soluble proteins and thus produced larger biomass. Hence, pigeon pea is a tree species that is adapted to high-calcium, alkaline environments in karst areas, and is of great significance for the revegetation and rocky desertification control in mountainous karst areas.