SPECIFIC ASSOCIATION OF DIAZOTROPHIC ACETOBACTERS WITH SUGARCANE

By repeated subculturing in N-free semisolid sucrose medium, diazotrophic acetobacters were isolated from sugarcane roots or soil collected from four regions of Queensland, Australia. No such organisms were isolated from other grasses from the same locations. It was suggested that these microorganisms are specifically associated with sugarcane because they preferred high concentrations of sucrose for growth and N2 fixation and did not utilize common amino acids or organic acids for growth.