Abstract

Nowadays there is a renewed interest in forage legumes, because of their important role in sustainable feeding systems. Among several species endemic to Mediterranean climate, Hedysarum spp., more abundant and diversified, is known to have good forage value and contribute to the enrichment of soil available nitrogen through their root nodules bacteria. In order to assess the diversity among forage species belonging to the genus Hedysarum, a prospective study was perform in different regions of Morocco from humid to arid environments, allowed the determination the area of distribution of four Hedysarum species: Hedysarum flexuosum L., H. coronarium L., H. spinosissimum L. subsp. capitatum and H. pallidum Desf. This is the first time a study is made in Morocco to highlight the symbiotic association for the last species. Plants were first evaluated for dry matter and nitrogen content. Then, the diversity of 51 isolates nodulating Hedysarum spp. was assessed for their morphological characteristics, and for ability to grow on different culture media. The phenotypic characterization of the root-nodules bacteria associated with those plants revealed a great similarity to strains belonging to Rhizobium genera and could be are very good candidates for plant inoculation in a specific region.