Red gram (pigeon peas, “Arhar in Hindi”, “Kandi in Telugo), often referred to as” protein of the poor person “, is an important basic crop that significantly contributes to the intake of proteins in a vegetarian diet in many countries, including India.
Red gram thrives like a rain crop in semi -dry areas of the world. Its roots form small and different shaped nodes, which are involved in the symbiotic association with bacteria of nitrogen fixing, especially with “bradyrhizobium”, one of the commonly known rhizobia.
Scientists from the University of Hyderabad (UAH) APPA RAO management and his team from the Department of Plant Sciences performed a comprehensive genome analysis to explore the factors affecting microbes diversity in red gram nodes.
Various red gram genotypes such as ASHA, Durga and Manne Konda Kandi grown in various types of soil (alfisol, vertisol and iceptsisol), as well as a wild red gram in its native soil, have been examined for the study.
Red gram and other legumes such as hosts benefit from symbiotic association with rhizobia because rhizobia converts atmospheric nitrogen-fishing more than 75% air-to shape plants, reducing the need for external nitrogen fertilizers for small farmers.
The nodes are not only filled with rhizobia itself, but there are also several other microbes in the nodes and around the knots, which can affect the node efficiency in atmospheric nitrogen fixation.
They found that the presence of non-rihizobial bacterial endophytes in red gram nodes was evident all the time. The position of the node on the root, the type of soil in which red gram is grown, was revealed by a variety and other environmental factors that contribute to the composition of the microbial node.
While the variety of microbes in the node is less compared to mass soil, it was more specialized and accused the role of host selection. Another important finding was that the microbes of the wild relative red gram were dominated by “bradyrhizobium”, while cultivated varieties such as Asha, Durg and Mannen Konda Kandi showed various bacterial communities.
Native symbiosis seems to have been at risk in the domestication process. The study also emphasized that soil properties played a more important role than the genetics of the host plant in shaping the microbes of the knot, which indicates the importance of soil.
The project was supported by the Council for Science and Engineering (SERB), now known as “Anusnadhan National Research Foundation” (anRF) under the Ministry of Science and Technology (DST). Students of the research of Anirban Basu, Chalasani DanESwari and PVSRN Sarma were involved in the work, they said.
Published – April 25, 2025 17:43
