Nutritional Adaptations of Plants

Nitrogen Fixation: Root and Bacteria Interactions

Nitrogen is an important macronutrient because it is part of nucleic acids and proteins. Atmospheric nitrogen, which is the diatomic molecule N2, or dinitrogen, is the largest pool of nitrogen in terrestrial ecosystems. However, plants cannot take advantage of this nitrogen because they do not have the necessary enzymes to convert it into biologically useful forms. However, nitrogen can be “fixed,” which means that it can be converted to ammonia (NH3) through biological, physical, or chemical processes. As you have learned, biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) is the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into ammonia (NH3), exclusively carried out by prokaryotes such as soil bacteria or cyanobacteria. Biological processes contribute 65 percent of the nitrogen used in agriculture. The following equation represents the process:

N 2 +16 ATP +  8 e  +  8 H +    2NH 3  + 16 ADP + 16 Pi +  H 2

The most important source of BNF is the symbiotic interaction between soil bacteria and legume plants, including many crops important to humans (Figure). The NH3 resulting from fixation can be transported into plant tissue and incorporated into amino acids, which are then made into plant proteins. Some legume seeds, such as soybeans and peanuts, contain high levels of protein, and serve among the most important agricultural sources of protein in the world.

Art Connection

 Top photo shows a bowl of shelled peanuts. Middle photo shows red kidney beans. Bottom photo shows white, bumpy, round chickpeas.
Some common edible legumes—like (a) peanuts, (b) beans, and (c) chickpeas—are able to interact symbiotically with soil bacteria that fix nitrogen. (credit a: modification of work by Jules Clancy; credit b: modification of work by USDA)

Farmers often rotate corn (a cereal crop) and soy beans (a legume), planting a field with each crop in alternate seasons. What advantage might this crop rotation confer?

Soil bacteria, collectively called rhizobia, symbiotically interact with legume roots to form specialized structures called nodules, in which nitrogen fixation takes place. This process entails the reduction of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia, by means of the enzyme nitrogenase. Therefore, using rhizobia is a natural and environmentally friendly way to fertilize plants, as opposed to chemical fertilization that uses a nonrenewable resource, such as natural gas. Through symbiotic nitrogen fixation, the plant benefits from using an endless source of nitrogen from the atmosphere. The process simultaneously contributes to soil fertility because the plant root system leaves behind some of the biologically available nitrogen. As in any symbiosis, both organisms benefit from the interaction: the plant obtains ammonia, and bacteria obtain carbon compounds generated through photosynthesis, as well as a protected niche in which to grow (Figure).

 Part A is a photo of legume roots, which are long and thin with hair-like appendages. Nodules are bulbous protrusions extending from the root. Part B is a transmission electron micrograph of a nodule cell cross section. Black oval-shaped vesicles containing rhizobia are visible. The vesicles are surrounded by a white layer and are scattered unevenly throughout the cell, which is gray.
Soybean roots contain (a) nitrogen-fixing nodules. Cells within the nodules are infected with Bradyrhyzobium japonicum, a rhizobia or “root-loving” bacterium. The bacteria are encased in (b) vesicles inside the cell, as can be seen in this transmission electron micrograph. (credit a: modification of work by USDA; credit b: modification of work by Louisa Howard, Dartmouth Electron Microscope Facility; scale-bar data from Matt Russell)
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