Characterization of the Root-Nodulating Rhizobia Associated with Native and Non-Native Legumes in Hawai‘i and Their Potentials for Restoration of Native Wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis) Trees

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dc.contributor.advisor Nguyen, Nhu H.
dc.contributor.author Abe, Jon
dc.contributor.department Biology
dc.date.accessioned 2023-01-12T00:02:40Z
dc.date.available 2023-01-12T00:02:40Z
dc.date.issued 2020
dc.description.abstract Legumes are highly nutritional, pod-bearing plants that account for more than a quarter of all agricultural crops. In addition to being a staple of global diets, they are feasible alternatives to nitrogenous fertilizers as they form a symbiotic relationship with rhizobia. Through biological nitrogen fixation, rhizobia are able to transform N 2 gas into ammonia, a readily accessible form for living organisms. Because nodulation of legumes is important for both agricultural and native plants, it is imperative to understand which species of rhizobia associates with which legumes. My objective in Part I of this project was to identify native and non-native legume- rhizobia associations by sampling the nodules of 22 legume species across the island of ‘Oahu. Following the isolation and culturing of the corresponding rhizobia within these nodules, molecular techniques were used to isolate, amplify, and sequence the DNA. Nodules from 51 different leguminous individuals, including 22 different species, were sampled, yielding 20 different rhizobia strains from four different genera. On the island of ‘Oahu, Bradyrhizobium sp. strain c020_F was found to be a generalist, forming nodules on nine different leguminous species. My objective in Part II of this project was to develop an Erythrina sandwicensis (wiliwili) restoration protocol using the two strains of Bradyrhizobium isolated from its roots in Part I. This protocol tested the feasibility and effectiveness of sowing seeds into soil inoculated by a rhizobia slurry of 10 6 rhizobia/mL. After three months, nodulated wiliwili seedlings had a significantly larger biomass than non-nodulated seedlings. Both strains of Bradyrhizobium had a nodulation rate of 80%; however, there were no significant differences in biomass between the two strains. Results of this experiment suggest that soil inoculation of wiliwili seedlings yields larger, healthier individuals and should be considered in future restoration protocols.
dc.format.extent 49 pages
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/10125/104398
dc.publisher University of Hawaii at Manoa
dc.rights All UHM Honors Projects are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission from the copyright owner.
dc.title Characterization of the Root-Nodulating Rhizobia Associated with Native and Non-Native Legumes in Hawai‘i and Their Potentials for Restoration of Native Wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis) Trees
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