They contain chemical evidence
for nitrogen fixation by microbes.
For more than a decade, a lone researcher has been building a case
for nitrogen fixation by bacteria living in poplar leaves.
The researchers think volcanic lightning or the heat of ancient impacts on Mars» surface were responsible
for nitrogen fixation on the Red Planet.
Not exact matches
His area of research —
nitrogen fixation in legume plants — interested me, and his enthusiasm
for his subject was inspiring.
The Brookhaven - made
nitrogen isotope enabled direct quantification of biological
nitrogen fixation and provided evidence
for biological transport and metabolism by the host plant.
Nitrospinae bacteria, which use the
nitrogen compound nitrite to «fix» inorganic carbon dioxide into sugars and other compounds
for food and reproduction, are responsible
for 15 to 45 percent of such carbon
fixation in the western North Atlantic Ocean, researchers report in the...
But he points out the vast majority of ocean
nitrogen fixation is still unaccounted
for — a problem «that needs to be fixed.»
Based on the abundance of these cyanobacteria and the rate at which they gobble down radioactive
nitrogen in the laboratory, the researchers estimate they account
for about 10 % of
nitrogen fixation in the ocean.
The biggest customer by a large margin, the colonial bacteria Trichodesmium, accounts
for only one - tenth of known
nitrogen fixation.
Applications considered in the process included bio-mining;
nitrogen fixation by engineered crops; gene drive propagation in populations of invasive species; and engineered seeds and plants destined
for distribution to the public.
Thus, in addition to the so - called «Haber - Bosch process of
nitrogen fixation,» nitrogenase also stimulates a reaction corresponding to the «Fischer - Tropsch synthesis of hydrocarbons,» which can be used on a large scale to synthesize fuels,
for instance from industrial waste gases..
The researchers found that the organisms turned on three genes
for an enzyme called nitrogenase, which aids
nitrogen fixation.
The enzyme responsible
for natural
nitrogen fixation is called nitrogenase.
Biological
nitrogen fixation — where diazotrophic bacteria fix atmospheric
nitrogen and convert it to ammonium — provides a free way
for plants to alter and absorb the nutrient.
There have been many claims of
nitrogen fixation in plants outside nodules where it was known to occur
for more than a century.
This anthropogenic addition of
nitrogen has reached a magnitude comparable to about half of global ocean
nitrogen fixation (the natural process by which atmospheric
nitrogen gas becomes a useful nutrient
for organisms).
And if the cyanobacteria are growing in water short on iron, an essential nutrient
for them, the slowdown in
nitrogen fixation can overwhelm any positive growth effects from extra CO2.
Legumes are protein - rich and would provide relief
for the deficit; they also increase the amount of
nitrogen available to plants through biological
nitrogen fixation, reducing the need
for fertilisers.
Hence, increasing
nitrogen fixation could improve overall plant productivity
for farmers who grow legumes in both industrial and developing countries while diminishing or eliminating the need
for nitrogen fertilizers.
Stroud argues that the moss - bacteria symbiosis may be as important
for global nutrient cycles as the
nitrogen fixation of legumes and their root nodule microbes (ScienceNOW, 5 September 2003).
1968 Robert Harza Burris
for his continued contribution to knowledge of the metabolism of
nitrogen and its
fixation by plants
He is specialized in the ecology and diversity of cyanobacteria, other marine bacteria and microalgae, and known
for his work on microbial mats and
nitrogen fixation
Grain legumes provide an unparalleled solution to this problem because of their inherent capacity
for symbiotic atmos - pheric
nitrogen fixation, which provides economically sustainable advantages
for farming.
The cyanobacteria tested in the laboratory tank are believed to be responsible
for about half of all marine
nitrogen fixation.
Recent projects have focused on understanding the controlling mechanisms
for coccolithophore ecology, marine
nitrogen fixation and the spread of anoxic conditions during Oceanic Anoxic Events of the Mesozoic.
«Then the bug pulls
nitrogen from the air and uses the bioplastic, which is basically stored hydrogen, to drive the
fixation cycle to make ammonia
for fertilizing crops.»