IN-VITRO TRANSFER OF FIXED NITROGEN FROM DIAZOTROPHIC FILAMENTOUS CYANOBACTERIA TO BLACK MANGROVE SEEDLINGS

Two isolates of the diazotrophic filamentous cyanobacterium Microcoleu s chthonoplastes, one obtained from black mangrove (Avicennia germinan s) pneumatophores and one from cyanobacterial mats, were inoculated on to young mangrove seedlings to evaluate nitrogen transfer from the bac terium to the plants under in vitro conditions in closed system experi ments. Total nitrogen and N-15 incorporation in plant parts were measu red. The levels of total N and N-15 in the inoculated leaves were sign ificantly higher than in noninoculated plants. (C) 1998 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.