Table 2.
Log response ratio of nodule and biological N fixation due to the coinoculation of rhizobia and plant growth-promoting bacilli in grain legumes
| Grain legume | Exp. condition | Nodulation | Nitrogenase activity | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | lr | 95% C.I | p | n | lr | 95% C.I | p | ||
| Chickpea | Pot | 97 | 0.131 | 0.071; 0.192 | < 0.0001 | 50 | 0.146 | 0.039; 0.253 | 0.0074 |
| Field | 94 | 0.260 | 0.220; 0.299 | < 0.0001 | 4 | 0.134 | 0.050; 0.214 | < 0.0001 | |
| Common bean | Pot | 152 | 0.092 | 0.033; 0.151 | 0.0023 | 33 | 0.197 | 0.099; 0.294 | < 0.0001 |
| Field | 18 | 0.020 | − 0.046; 0.085 | 0.5546 | 4 | 0.139 | − 0.296; 0.574 | 0.5321 | |
| Cowpea | Pot | 159 | 0.013 | − 0.032; 0.057 | 0.5749 | ||||
| Field | 4 | − 0.337 | − 0.609; − 0.064 | 0.0154 | |||||
| Faba bean | Field | 138 | 0.029 | − 0.020; 0.077 | 0.2457 | 21 | 0.299 | 0.164; 0.433 | < 0.0001 |
| Groundnut | Pot | 27 | 0.594 | 0.454; 0.734 | < 0.0001 | 7 | 0.099 | − 0.052; 0.251 | 0.1961 |
| Lentil | Pot | 12 | 0.301 | 0.2165; 0.385 | < 0.0001 | 1 | − 0.569 | − 0.997; − 0.142 | 0.0090 |
| Field | 8 | 0.095 | 0.021; 0.169 | 0.0121 | 2 | 0.475 | 0.331; 0.619 | < 0.0001 | |
| Mung bean | Pot | 72 | 0.006 | − 0.064; 0.077 | 0.8651 | 48 | − 0.211 | − 0.322; − 0.102 | 0.0002 |
| Field | 30 | 0.199 | 0.165; 0.232 | < 0.0001 | |||||
| Pea | Pot | 8 | 0.226 | 0.002; 0.452 | 0.0485 | 2 | − 0.376 | − 0.758; 0.005 | 0.0532 |
| Pigeon pea | Pot | 25 | 0.100 | − 0.111; 0.311 | 0.3520 | 1 | 0.291 | 0.139; 0.442 | 0.0002 |
| Field | 21 | 0.223 | − 0.158; 0.611 | 0.2483 | |||||
| Soybean | Pot | 96 | 0.213 | 0.142; 0.283 | < 0.0001 | 47 | 0.045 | − 0.156; 0.246 | < 0.0001 |
| Field | 89 | 0.400 | 0.300; 0.501 | < 0.0001 | 4 | − 0.114 | − 0.723; 0.495 | 0.7129 | |
| Urad bean | Pot | 6 | 0.036 | − 0.072; 0.144 | 0.5100 | ||||
n is the number of observations; lr is the log response ratio obtained by dividing treatment value (rhizobia + bacilli) per control (rhizobia); 95% C.I. are the lower and upper confidence intervals at p < 0.95
Interpretation: Negative values of lr indicated that coinoculation of rhizobia and bacilli decreases the variable values, and positive values of lr indicated that coinoculation promoted increases in the variable values. When the value of lr is negative and both confidence intervals are negative, the effects are significantly negative. When the value of lr is positive and both confidence intervals are positive, the effects are significantly positive
Legume species: chickpea, Cicer arietinum; common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris; cowpea, Vigna unguiculata; faba bean, Vicia faba; groundnut, Arachis hypogaea; lentil, Lens culinaris; mung bean, Vigna radiata; Pea, Pisum sativum; pigeon pea, Cajanus cajan; soybean, Glycine max; urad bean, Vigna mungo
Database and the “R” script for the meta-analysis are presented in the Supplementary Material