Abstract The exclusive use of plant juices, not as a mere supplement to synthetic culture media, for
culturing rhizospheric microorganisms (RMO) is introduced here. Juices were prepared from desert
(Mesembryanthemum crystallinum L., Zygophyllum album L., Carpobrotus edulis L.) as well as
cultivated (Trifolium alexandrinum L., Beta vulgaris L.) plants. Colonies of RMO (Azospirillum
brasilense, Enterobacter agglomerans and Klebsiella pneumoniae) nicely developed on surfaceinoculated
agar plates prepared from crude and diluted juice of M. crystallinum (ice plant). Furthermore,
hundreds of RMO colonies developed on various standard culture media were replicated
(>90%) on agar plates of different plant juices. RMO cells grew nicely in liquid ice plant juice, with
doubling times comparable to those grown in the reference culture medium. RMO populations resident
in various host plants were able to develop on culture media prepared from homologous and
heterologous juices. The application of a thin semi-solid overlay agar on the surfaces of inoculated
agar plates significantly increased the recovery of micro-colonies on agar plates, particularly those
prepared from plant juices.
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