Screening high symbiotic matching combinations of rhizobia and alfalfa varieties in saline soil
6 affiliations
- 1Inner Mongolia Academy of Forestry Science
- 2Institute of Grassland Research of CAAS
- 3Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Environmental Monitoring Station Ordos Sub-station
- 4College of Life Science, Baicheng Development Research Institute, Baicheng Normal University
- 5Baicheng Institute of Animal Husbandry
- 6College of Grassland Science, Gansu Agricultural University
Abstract
Rhizobium inoculation can improve alfalfa performance, but responses depend on both plant genotype and growing environment. We first screened 14 rhizobial strains plus one commercial inoculant with Medicago varia ‘Caoyuan No. 3’ (CY3) in a greenhouse pot experiment, together with an uninoculated control (16 treatments; three pots per treatment). Based on plant height, root length, leaf number, nodule number, and above- and belowground biomass after two months, SJN, HH, and HK were selected as higher-performing strains, whereas XBC, SWL, and XH were retained as lower-performing comparators. These six strains were then evaluated with CY3, Medicago sativa ‘Aohan’ (AH), and M. sativa ‘Adrenalin’ (ADN) in a replicated field experiment. Individual growth and nutritional responses varied among varieties and growth stages. At flowering, XH increased CY3 above-ground biomass by 113% relative to CK, whereas the reported TOPSIS composite ranking placed CY3+XBC first overall. The corresponding composite rankings placed AH+SJN and ADN+SWL first; notably, CK ranked second for ADN. Thus, ‘optimal’ refers to the highest reported composite score across the measured growth, nodulation and nutritional indicators, not superiority for every individual trait. Because symbiotic nitrogen fixation was not measured directly and a pre-sowing physicochemical baseline for the field soil was unavailable, the findings should be interpreted as context-dependent agronomic responses rather than direct quantification of nitrogen fixation or remediation of saline soil.
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BibTeX
@article{liu2026screening,
title = {{Screening high symbiotic matching combinations of rhizobia and alfalfa varieties in saline soil}},
author = {Liying Liu and Yinghao Liu and Hongmei Liu and Hui Yan and Yiwen Yang and Xing Li and Yuzhi Wang and Zhigang Liu and Meiling Hou and Da Li},
journal = {Frontiers in Plant Science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpls.2026.1953432},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2026.1953432/full},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Screening high symbiotic matching combinations of rhizobia and alfalfa varieties in saline soil
AU - Liying Liu
AU - Yinghao Liu
AU - Hongmei Liu
AU - Hui Yan
AU - Yiwen Yang
AU - Xing Li
AU - Yuzhi Wang
AU - Zhigang Liu
AU - Meiling Hou
AU - Da Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
JO - Frontiers in Plant Science
DO - 10.3389/fpls.2026.1953432
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2026.1953432/full
AB - Rhizobium inoculation can improve alfalfa performance, but responses depend on both plant genotype and growing environment. We first screened 14 rhizobial strains plus one commercial inoculant with Medicago varia ‘Caoyuan No. 3’ (CY3) in a greenhouse pot experiment, together with an uninoculated control (16 treatments; three pots per treatment). Based on plant height, root length, leaf number, nodule number, and above- and belowground biomass after two months, SJN, HH, and HK were selected as higher-performing strains, whereas XBC, SWL, and XH were retained as lower-performing comparators. These six strains were then evaluated with CY3, Medicago sativa ‘Aohan’ (AH), and M. sativa ‘Adrenalin’ (ADN) in a replicated field experiment. Individual growth and nutritional responses varied among varieties and growth stages. At flowering, XH increased CY3 above-ground biomass by 113% relative to CK, whereas the reported TOPSIS composite ranking placed CY3+XBC first overall. The corresponding composite rankings placed AH+SJN and ADN+SWL first; notably, CK ranked second for ADN. Thus, ‘optimal’ refers to the highest reported composite score across the measured growth, nodulation and nutritional indicators, not superiority for every individual trait. Because symbiotic nitrogen fixation was not measured directly and a pre-sowing physicochemical baseline for the field soil was unavailable, the findings should be interpreted as context-dependent agronomic responses rather than direct quantification of nitrogen fixation or remediation of saline soil.
SN - 1664-462X
ER -