Improvement of nitrogen fixation byCasuarina equisetifoliathrough Clonal selection: A research note

Abstract
Two individual seedlings of Casuarina equisetifolia exhibiting conspicuous differences in their nodule numbers were identified in a preliminary screening experiment. Then, these individuals were vegetatively propagated as cuttings. One of the clones thus obtained was shown to fix 1.6 times more nitrogen and produce a biomass 2.6 times higher than the other clone, the inoculation having been achieved with the same strain of Frankia. To avoid plagiotropism and other defects observed in cuttings, we devised an original method of micropropagation based on the use of immature female inflorescences as expiants.