RESEARCHERS from ten countries recently benefited from a Crawford Master Class in Rhizobium Technology in Uruguay, learning about the latest molecular techniques to boost nitrogen fixation in plants.

The Master Class was hosted by INIA (Instituto Nacional de Investigacion Agropecuaria), the Uruguayan agricultural research organisation, and delivered by scientists from the Centre for Rhizobium Studies based at Murdoch University. This Centre is one of the few research groups in the world specialising in this field.

Rhizobia are the bacteria that fix nitrogen in the root nodules of legumes such as clovers and lupins; how to maximise nitrogen intake by these plants is a worldwide problem for applications as diverse as agriculture and mining rehabilitation.

The Centre’s Deputy Director Professor Mike Dilworth said that Uruguay and Australia have many parallels in their agricultural situations, particularly acidic soils, which give farmers problems with legume nodulation.

Farmers in Australia and Uruguay have both experimented with planting more perennial crops and pastures (such as legumes) in an attempt to reduce dryland salinity.

However, the root nodule bacteria for some desirable Mediterranean legumes are often not tolerant of the acidity levels of soils in these countries.

Finding and manipulating suitable bacteria to help legumes grow in acid soils is one of many areas being investigated by researchers at the Centre for Rhizobium Studes.

“The molecular tools available are now very sharp, enabling us to move virtually any gene and identify any organism,” said Professor Dilworth.

“This has helped us to learn that legumes exert a great deal of control over the relationship with the bacteria.”

Course participants spent two intensive weeks in the field and laboratory learning techniques to take back to their own countries. They were exposed to a broad range of the latest ideas and innovations in rhizobial technology, including field work, physiology and genetic manipulation.

Professor Dilworth said that the Master Class had helped to strengthen existing research links with Uruguay, as well as with the other participating countries. The Centre has already had two participants applying for post-graduate study, one from Uruguay and one from Chile.