Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Robert Zdor

Abstract

Rhizobium rubi AT3-4RS/6 was isolated from the velvetleaf rhizosphere and is being tested as a potential biological control of velvetleaf. The purpose of this research is to test the levels of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) produced by Rhizobium rubi AT3-4RS/6 after exposure to and incubation in velvetleaf root exudates. IAA production has been found in other rhizobacteria that are deleterious to weed growth. Velvetleaf seeds were sprouted and the roots suspended in a sterile mineral solution, which was then recovered and inoculated with R. rubi. Levels of IAA and numbers of viable bacterial colonies were then determined. The average level of IAA was .042 microgram/10(6) CFUs in the presence of root exudates and .1196 microgram/10(6)/ml, respectively. Results show that the presence of velvetleaf root exudates increased bacterial growth and reduced IAA production significantly (p<.05).

Subject Area

Rhizobium rubi, Velvetleaf--Biological control., Weeds--Control

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.32597/honors/24/

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