THE IDENTIFICATION OF BRADYRHIZOBIUM-JAPONICUM STRAINS ISOLATED FROM ITALIAN SOILS

Pyrolysis mass spectrometry (PYMS) and PCR using arbitrary primers wer e used to characterize strains of Bradyrhizobium japonicum isolated fr om fields in northern Italy. The combination of techniques allowed us to identify bacteria derived from inoculants and to demonstrate that i nformation about the nature of one inoculant was incorrect. PYMS also indicated that the derivatives from one inoculant formed two distinct populations: one like the parent strain and the other altered phenotyp ically.