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Journal of Plant Nutrition, 28: 1907–1921, 2005 Copyright © Taylor Francis Inc. ISSN: 0190-4167 print / 1532-4087 online DOI: 10.1080/01904160500306458 Effect of Sodium Chloride on Growth, Nutrient Accumulation, and Nitrogen Fixation of Common Bean Plants in Symbiosis with Isogenic Strains N. A. Tejera,1 R. Campos,1 J. Sanjuan,2 and C. Lluch1 1Departamento de Fisiolog´ıa Vegetal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Spain 2Departamento de Microbiolog´ıa del Suelo y Sistemas Simbi´oticos, Estaci´on Experimental del Zaid´ın, CSIC, Granada, Spain ABSTRACT The effect of sodium chloride (NaCl)-salinity on growth responses and tissues organic solutes and mineral content was investigated in common bean plants inoculated with salt- tolerant Rhizobium tropici wild-type strain CIAT899 and four mutant derivatives having decreased salt-tolerance (DST). Under non-saline conditions two mutants formed par- tially effective (HB10, HB12) and another two almost ineffective (HB8, HB13) nodules. A great variation of NaCl tolerance in the different symbiosis tested was observed at harvest, 32 day after planting. Common bean plant responded to salinity by decreasing the content of dry plant biomass, nodule number and the nitrogen fixation, and increas- ing the root to shoot ratio. The salt dose of 25 mM produced an increase of total soluble sugar and free amino acids content. This result suggest that these metabolites might be related with a nodule osmotic adjustment response under saline conditions, however cannot be excluded that the increase of amino acids content could be a consequence of protein degradation. In the other hand, sodium, calcium and phosphorus contents in shoot increased under the saline treatments. Potassium (K) and calcium (Ca) contents, unlike phosphorus (P) content, in shoot were not rela