Summary A short-term laboratory acetylene reduction assay using cut plant-soil samples incubated in the dark was developed for measuring relative N 2 -fixing activities associated with field-grown rice plants. The assay sample consists of rhizosphere soil, root, and cut stem and leaf sheath. The cut plant-soil assay is relatively simple, rapid, and convenient; it reduces, if not eliminates, the problems encountered in whole-plant (field, pot, and water culture) and excised roots assays. Varietal differences in N2-fixing activity were detected with the new assay technique.
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