scholarly journals Biotechnological production of plant inoculants based on nitrogen-fixing bacteria

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 56-63
Author(s):  
Ivana Pajčin ◽  
Vanja Vlajkov ◽  
Jelena Dodić ◽  
Aleksandar Jokić ◽  
Jovana Grahovac

Nitrogen is one of the essential elements for plant growth and development in terms of DNA and protein synthesis. Its main reservoir in nature is the atmosphere; however, inert molecular nitrogen present in the air isn't a suitable nitrogen form for plants' nutrition. Therefore it has to be chemically transformed to NH4 + or NO3 - ion by the process known as biological nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen fixation is carried out by free-living or symbiotic nitrogen-fixing prokaryotes (diazotrophs), including bacteria, archaea and cyanobacteria. In order to be used as plant inoculants for nitrogen fixation, the biomass of these prokaryotes must be produced and formulated appropriately through different biotechnological processes. The aim of this study is to summarize the main aspects of biotechnological production of plant inoculants based on nitrogen-fixing bacteria in terms of upstream processing, cultivation and downstream processing, with a special emphasis on cultivation media composition, cultivation conditions, biomass separation and formulation techniques.

2013 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 7-20
Author(s):  
O. V. Nadkernychna ◽  
E. P. Kopylov

The paper presents the study of active nitrogen fixation bacteria of genera Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Bacillus, Flavobacterium, Enterobacter and Pseudomonas isolated from root zone of spring wheat plants. The ability of selected diazotrophs to form associative systems with spring wheat was investigated. The most significant increase of molecular nitrogen fixation activity in root zone of plants was observed under the Azospirillum species background.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Claudia Rodriguez-Gonzalez ◽  
Carolina Ospina-Betancourth ◽  
Janeth Sanabria

The increasing use of chemical fertilizers causes the loss of natural biological nitrogen fixation in soils, water eutrophication and emits more than 300 Mton CO2 per year. It also limits the success of external bacterial inoculation in the soil. Nitrogen fixing bacteria can be inhibited by the presence of ammonia as its presence can inhibit biological nitrogen fixation. Two aerobic sludges from wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) were exposed to high ammonium salts concentrations (>450 mg L−1 and >2 dS m−1). Microbial analysis after treatment through 16S pyrosequencing showed the presence of Fluviicola sp. (17.70%), a genus of the Clostridiaceae family (11.17%), and Azospirillum sp. (10.42%), which were present at the beginning with lower abundance. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis based on nifH genes did not show changes in the nitrogen-fixing population. Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria (NFB) were identified and associated with other microorganisms involved in the nitrogen cycle, presumably for survival at extreme conditions. The potential use of aerobic sludges enriched with NFB is proposed as an alternative to chemical fertilizer as this bacteria could supplement nitrogen to the plant showing competitive results with chemical fertilization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luz K. Medina-Cordoba ◽  
Aroon T. Chande ◽  
Lavanya Rishishwar ◽  
Leonard W. Mayer ◽  
Lina C. Valderrama-Aguirre ◽  
...  

AbstractPrevious studies have shown the sugarcane microbiome harbors diverse plant growth promoting microorganisms, including nitrogen-fixing bacteria (diazotrophs), which can serve as biofertilizers. The genomes of 22 diazotrophs from Colombian sugarcane fields were sequenced to investigate potential biofertilizers. A genome-enabled computational phenotyping approach was developed to prioritize sugarcane associated diazotrophs according to their potential as biofertilizers. This method selects isolates that have potential for nitrogen fixation and other plant growth promoting (PGP) phenotypes while showing low risk for virulence and antibiotic resistance. Intact nitrogenase (nif) genes and operons were found in 18 of the isolates. Isolates also encode phosphate solubilization and siderophore production operons, and other PGP genes. The majority of sugarcane isolates showed uniformly low predicted virulence and antibiotic resistance compared to clinical isolates. Six strains with the highest overall genotype scores were experimentally evaluated for nitrogen fixation, phosphate solubilization, and the production of siderophores, gibberellic acid, and indole acetic acid. Results from the biochemical assays were consistent and validated computational phenotype predictions. A genotypic and phenotypic threshold was observed that separated strains by their potential for PGP versus predicted pathogenicity. Our results indicate that computational phenotyping is a promising tool for the assessment of bacteria detected in agricultural ecosystems.


1988 ◽  
Vol 34 (7) ◽  
pp. 886-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wung Yang Shieh ◽  
Usio Simidu ◽  
Yoshiharu Maruyama

Four strains of marine nitrogen-fixing bacteria were isolated from the roots of eelgrass (Zostera marina) and from sediments in an eelgrass bed in Aburatsubo Inlet, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Significant levels of nitrogenase activity were detected in all four strains after a few hours of incubation under anaerobic conditions. Nitrogenase activity in all cases was Na+ dependent. These strains grew anaerobically or under conditions of low oxygen, using molecular nitrogen as the sole nitrogen source. Bacterial growth in liquid nitrogen-free medium was accompanied by a marked pH decrease during the exponential growth phase. Neither yeast extract nor vitamins were required for the nitrogen fixation activity of these strains. Taxonomically, all strains were facultatively anaerobic, Gram-negative rods. They were motile in liquid medium by means of a single polar flagellum and required NaCl for their growth. These characteristics, as well as the guanine + cytosine content of their DNA (43.5 – 44.8 mol%), placed them in the family Vibrionaceae. These strains, however, could not be identified to the genus level because they were distinct from the two halophilic genera Vibrio and Photobacterium of the family Vibrionaceae by a variety of characteristics.


Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 768
Author(s):  
Virginia Sánchez-Navarro ◽  
Raúl Zornoza ◽  
Ángel Faz ◽  
Catalina Egea-Gilabert ◽  
Margarita Ros ◽  
...  

The introduction of nitrogen fixing bacteria (NFB) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) into the soil is an advisable agricultural practice for the crop, since it enhances nutrient and water uptake and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. The aim of this work was to study plant nutrition, biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and crop yield and quality, after inoculating seeds with NFBs ((Rhizobium leguminosarum, Burkholderia cenocepacia, Burkholderia vietnamiensis)) and/or AMFs (Rhizophagus irregularis, Claroideoglomus etunicatum, Claroideoglomus claroideum and Funneliformis mosseae) in a fava bean crop in two seasons. The composition of the nodule bacterial community was evaluated by the high-throughput sequencing analysis of bacterial 16 S rRNA genes. It was found that microbial inoculation accompanied by a 20% decrease in mineral fertilization had no significant effect on crop yield or the nutritional characteristics compared with a non-inoculated crop, except for an increase in the grain protein content in inoculated plants. None of the inoculation treatments increased biological nitrogen fixation over a non-inoculated level. The bacterial rRNA analysis demonstrated that the genus Rhizobium predominated in all nodules, both in inoculated and non-inoculated treatments, suggesting the previous presence of these bacteria in the soil. In our study, inoculation with Rhizobium leguminosarum was the most effective treatment for increasing protein content in seeds, while Burkholderia sp. was not able to colonise the plant nodules. Inoculation techniques used in fava beans can be considered an environmentally friendly alternative, reducing the input of fertilizers, while maintaining crop yield and quality, with the additional benefit of increasing the grain protein content. However, further research is required on the selection and detection of efficient rhizobial strains under local field conditions, above all those related to pH and soil type, in order to achieve superior nitrogen-fixing bacteria.


2019 ◽  
Vol 95 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiran Preet Padda ◽  
Akshit Puri ◽  
Chris Chanway

ABSTRACT Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) trees have been thriving on unreclaimed gravel mining sites in British Columbia, Canada, with tissue nitrogen-content and growth-rate unaffected by extremely low soil nitrogen-levels. This indicates that pine trees could be accessing a hidden nitrogen source to fulfill their nitrogen requirements – possibly via endophytic nitrogen-fixation. Endophytic bacteria originally isolated from native pine trees growing at gravel sites were selected (n = 14) for in vitro nitrogen-fixation assays and a year long greenhouse study to test the overall hypothesis that naturally occurring endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacteria sustain pine tree growth under nitrogen-limited conditions. Each of the 14 bacteria colonized the internal tissues of pine trees in the greenhouse study and fixed significant amounts of nitrogen from atmosphere (23%–53%) after one year as estimated through 15N isotope dilution assay. Bacterial inoculation also significantly enhanced the length (31%–64%) and biomass (100%–311%) of pine seedlings as compared to the non-inoculated control treatment. In addition, presence of the nifH gene was confirmed in all 14 bacteria. Our results support the possibility that pine trees associate with nitrogen-fixing bacteria, capable of endophytic colonization, to survive at unreclaimed gravel mining pits and this association could potentially be utilized for effective reclamation of highly disturbed sites in a sustainable manner.


1992 ◽  
Vol 338 (1286) ◽  
pp. 409-416 ◽  

Biological nitrogen fixation is fundamental to the economy of the biosphere, yet it is restricted to a few dozen bacterial species. Why have plants not acquired it during evolution? No serious physiological or genetic obstacles seem to exist. Has a relatively late emergence, among genomically flexible prokaryotes, effectively precluded appropriate seletion pressure?


2014 ◽  
Vol 80 (18) ◽  
pp. 5709-5716 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Perrineau ◽  
C. Le Roux ◽  
A. Galiana ◽  
A. Faye ◽  
R. Duponnois ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTIntroducing nitrogen-fixing bacteria as an inoculum in association with legume crops is a common practice in agriculture. However, the question of the evolution of these introduced microorganisms remains crucial, both in terms of microbial ecology and agronomy. We explored this question by analyzing the genetic and symbiotic evolution of twoBradyrhizobiumstrains inoculated onAcacia mangiumin Malaysia and Senegal 15 and 5 years, respectively, after their introduction. Based on typing of several loci, we showed that these two strains, although closely related and originally sampled in Australia, evolved differently. One strain was recovered in soil with the same five loci as the original isolate, whereas the symbiotic cluster of the other strain was detected with no trace of the three housekeeping genes of the original inoculum. Moreover, the nitrogen fixation efficiency was variable among these isolates (either recombinant or not), with significantly high, low, or similar efficiencies compared to the two original strains and no significant difference between recombinant and nonrecombinant isolates. These data suggested that 15 years after their introduction, nitrogen-fixing bacteria remain in the soil but that closely related inoculant strains may not evolve in the same way, either genetically or symbiotically. In a context of increasing agronomical use of microbial inoculants (for biological control, nitrogen fixation, or plant growth promotion), this result feeds the debate on the consequences associated with such practices.


1984 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 595-597 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Z. Florence ◽  
F. D. Cook

Azotobacter spp., Azospirillum spp., and Desulfovibrio spp., were identified as the predominant nitrogen-fixing bacteria associated with seedling root sections collected from natural stands of Pinusbanksiana Lamb., Piceamariana (Mill.) B.S.P., and Larixlaricina (Du Roi) K. Koch growing in Alberta. Samples from the sandy upland habitat of P. banksiana exhibited lower average rates of nitrogen fixation relative to the wet lowland occupied by P. mariana and L. laricina. Average nitrogen-fixing capacity (by acetylene reduction) was greater among bacteria isolates from L. laricina than those from P. mariana. Azospirillum spp. were strongly associated with P. mariana, while Azotobacter spp. were isolated more frequently from L. laricina.


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