Research within CWBR

New results released from research within the CWBR. The Fynbos Biome exists along the Southern Coast of South Africa and is the smallest, but diverse Floral Kingdom in the world with over 10,000 species.

“Now botanists from SU's Department of Botany and Zoology have found evidence that the largest Cape geophyte genus, Oxalis, has developed a unique association with the bacterial genus Bacillus, that help it to fix nitrogen from the air and to perform extraordinary feats of germination.

Furthermore, they proved that the Bacillus bacteria are so integrated into this symbiotic relationship that they are even inherited from mother plant to seed. The results of the study was published in the journal BMC Plant Biology recently, with the title "Nitrogen-fixing bacteria and Oxalis - evidence for a vertically inherited bacterial symbiosis".

To read the full article click link below -

New evidence that bacteria drive biodiversity in the Cape Floral Region by Stellenbosch University