%0 Journal Article %A Turner, Sheila M. %A Newman, E. I. %T Growth of Bacteria on Roots of Grasses: Influence of Mineral Nutrient Supply and Interactions between Species %D 1984 %J Microbiology, %V 130 %N 3 %P 505-512 %@ 1465-2080 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-130-3-505 %I Microbiology Society, %X Grass plants were grown axenically in sand and were then inoculated with either one bacterial species or a mixture of two species. Numbers of bacteria on the root surface were subsequently determined by dilution plating. When six bacterial species were inoculated on to separate Lolium perenne plants, the species with the smallest individual cells produced greatest numbers per mg root after 15 d. When Serratia marcescens was inoculated on to three grass species, L. perenne, Holcus lanatus and Deschampsia flexuosa, there was no significant difference between the grasses in the number of bacteria per mg of root which subsequently developed. Serratia marcescens and a Flavobacterium sp. were inoculated, separately or together, on to L. perenne, grown either with a complete nutrient solution or one deficient in either nitrogen or phosphorus. The Flavobacterium sp. increased more slowly than S. marcescens, a difference enhanced when they were on the same plant. Decreased nitrogen supply, although it reduced plant growth, had no significant effect on bacterial numbers, whereas phosphorus deficiency increased the numbers of both bacterial species. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-130-3-505