Nitrogen is arguably the most important nutrient required by plants. However, the availability of nitrogen is limited in many soils and although the earth's atmosphere consists of 78.1% nitrogen gas (N2) plants are unable to use this form of nitrogen. To compensate , modern agriculture has been highly reliant on industrial nitrogen fertilizers to achieve maximum crop productivity. However, a great deal of fossil fuel is required for the production and delivery of nitrogen fertilizer. Moreover carbon dioxide (CO2) which is released during fossil fuel combustion contributes to the greenhouse effect and run off of nitrate leads to eutrophication of the waterways. Biological nitrogen fixation is an alternative to nitrogen fertilizer. It is carried out by prokaryotes using an enzyme complex called nitrogenase and results in atmospheric N2 being reduced into a form of nitrogen diazotrophic organisms and plants are able to use (ammonia). It is this process and its major players which will be discussed in this book.
Biological Nitrogen Fixation is a comprehensive two volume work bringing together both review and original research articles on key topics in nitrogen fixation. Chapters across both volumes emphasize molecular techniques and advanced biochemical analysis approaches applicable to various aspects of biological nitrogen fixation.
Volume 1 explores the chemistry and biochemistry of nitrogenases, nif gene regulation, the taxonomy, evolution, and genomics of nitrogen fixing organisms, as well as their physiology and metabolism.
Volume 2 covers the symbiotic interaction of nitrogen fixing organisms with their host plants, including nodulation and symbiotic nitrogen fixation, plant and microbial "omics", cyanobacteria, diazotrophs and non-legumes, field studies and inoculum preparation, as well as nitrogen fixation and cereals.
Covering the full breadth of current nitrogen fixation research and expanding it towards future advances in the field, Biological Nitrogen Fixation will be a one-stop reference for microbial ecologists and environmental microbiologists as well as plant and agricultural researchers working on crop sustainability.
Table of Contents
Biological Nitrogen Fixation
VOLUME 1
Chapter 1. Introduction
Frans J. de Bruijn
Section 1. Focus Chapters
Chapter 2. Recent advances in Understanding Nitrogenases and How They Work
William Newton
Chapter 3. Evolution and Taxonomy of Nitrogen-fixing Organisms with emphasis on Rhizobia
Kristina Lindstrom
Chapter 4. Evolution of Rhizobium Nodulation: From Nodule Specific Genes (Nodulins) to Recruitment of Common Processes
Ton Bisseling
Chapter 5. Bioengineering Nitrogen Acquisition in Rice: Promises for Global Food Security
Herbert Kronzucker
Section 2. Chemistry and Biochemistry of Nitrogenases
Chapter 6. An Overview of Fe-S Protein Biogenesis from Prokaryotes to Eukaryotes
Mahipal Kesawat
Chapter 7. Biosynthesis of the Iron-Molybdenum Cofactor of Nitrogenase
Luis Rubio
Chapter 8. Distribution and Ecological Niches of Nitrogenases
Alexander Glazer
Section 3. Expression and Regulation of Nitrogen Fixation Genes and Nitrogenase
Chapter 9. Regulation of nif Gene Expression in Azotobacter vinelandii
Cesar Poza-Carrion, Luis Rubio
Chapter 10. Coupling of Regulation between Nitrogen and Carbon Metabolism in Nitrogen Fixing Pseudomonas stutzeri A1501
Lin Min
Chapter 11. Regulation of NItrogen Fixation and Molybdenum Transport in Rhodobacter capsulatus
Bernd Masepohl
Chapter 12. Metabolic Regulation of Nitrogenase Activity in Rhodospirillum rubrum: The Role of PII Proteins and Membrane Sequestration
Stefan Nordlund
Chapter 13. How Does the DraG-PII Complex Regulate Nitrogenase Activity in Azospirillum brasilense?
Xiao-Dan Li
Chapter 14. Fe Protein Over-expression Can Enhance the Nitrogenase Activity of Azotobacter vinelandii
Papri Nag
Chapter 15. FNR-like Proteins in Rhizobia: Past and Future
Lourdes Girard
Section 4. Taxonomy and Evolution of Nitrogen Fixing Organisms
Chapter 16. Exploring Alternative Paths for the Evolution of Biological Nitrogen Fixation
John Peters
Chapter 17. Phylogeny, Diversity, Geographical Distribution and Host Range of Legume-Nodulating Betaproteobacteria: What Is the Role of Plant Taxonomy?
Lionel Moulin, Euan James
Chapter 18. Bradyrhizobium, The Ancestor of All Rhizobia: Phylogeny of Housekeeping and Nitrogen-fixation Genes
Mariangela Hungria
Chapter 19. Interaction between Host and Rhizobial Strains: Affinities and Coevolution
Mario Aguilar
Chapter 20. Assessment of Nitrogenase Diversity in the Environment
Daniel Buckley
Section 5. Genomics of Nitrogen Fixing Organisms
Chapter 21. Genetic Regulation of Symbiosis Island Transfer in Mesorhizobium loti
Joshua Ramsay, Clive Ronson
Chapter 22. The Azotobacter vinelandii Genome: An Update
Joao C. Setubal
Chapter 23. The Genome Sequence of the Novel Rhizobial Species Microvirga lotononidis Strain WSM3557.
Julie Ardley
Chapter 24. Genome Characteristics of Frankia sp. Reflect Host Range and Host Plant Biogeography
Philippe Normand, David Benson
Chapter 25. Core and Accessory Henomes of The Diazotroph Azospirillum
Florence Wisniewski-Dye
Chapter 26. Pangenome Evolution in The Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixer Sinorhizobium meliloti
Marco Galardini
Chapter 27. Pangenomic Analysis of The Rhizobiales Using The GET_HOMOLOGUES Software Package
Pablo Vinuesa
Section 6. Physiology and Metabolism of Nitrogen Fixing Organisms
Chapter 28. Metabolism of Photosynthetic Bradyrhizobia During Root and Stem Symbiosis with Aeschynomene legumes
Benjamin Gourion
Chapter 29. A Plethora of Terminal Oxidases and Their Biogenesis Factors in Bradyrhizobium japonicum
Hauke Hennecke
Chapter 30. Rhizobial Extracytoplasmic Function (ECF) Factors and Their Role in Oxidative Stress Response of Bradyrhizobium japonicum
Hans-Martin Fischer
Chapter 31. Role of the Bacterial BacA ABC-transporter in Chronic Infection of Nodule Cells by Rhizobium
Peter Mergaert
Chapter 32. Molecular Keys to Broad Host Range in Sinorhizobium fredii NGR234, USDA257 and HH103
Wolfgang Streit
Chapter 33. Motility and Chemotaxis in the Rhizobia
Michael Hynes
Chapter 34. The Pts/Ntr System Globally Regulates ATP-dependent Transporters in Rhizobium leguminosarum
Jurgen Prell
Section 7. Nitrogen Fixing Organisms, the Plant Rhizosphere and Stress Tolerance
Chapter 35. Actinorhizal Root Exudates Alter the Physiology, Surface Properties and Plant Infectivity of Frankia
Louis Tisa
Chapter 36. Exopolysaccharide Production in Rhizobia is Regulated by Environmental Factors
Monika Janczarek
Chapter 37. Regulation of Symbiotically-Important Functions by Quorum Sensing in the Sinorhizobium meliloti-Alfalfa Interaction
Juan Gonzales
Chapter 38. Lumichrome as a Bacterial Signal Molecule Influencing Plant Growth
Felix Dakora
Chapter 39. Genes Involved in Desiccation Resistance of Rhizobia and Other Bacteria
Michael Kahn
Chapter 40. The General Stress Response in Alpha-rhizobia
Claude Bruand
Section 8. Physiology and Regulation of Nodulation
Chapter 41. The Root Hair: A Single Cell Model for Systems Biology
Marc Libault
Chapter 42. How Transcriptomics Revealed New Information on Actinorhizal Symbioses Establishment and Evolution
Valerie Hocher
Chapter 43. Molecular Biology of Infection and Nodule Development in Discaria trinervis – Frankia Actinorhizal Symbiosis
Sergio Svistoonoff
Chapter 44. Lotus japonicus Nodulates When It Sees Red
Akihiro Suzuki
Chapter 45. Out of Water of A New Model Legume: The Nod-independent Aeschynomene evenia
Jean-Francois Arrighi
Chapter 46. Phosphorus Use Efficiency for N2 Fixation in The Rhizobial Symbiosis with Legumes
Jean –Jacques Drevon
Chapter 47. Regulation of Nodule Development by Short and Long Distance Auxin Transport
Ulrike Mathesius
Chapter 48. Functional Analysis of Nitrogen-Fixing Root Nodule Symbioses Induced by Frankia: Transport and Metabolic Interactions
Alison Berry
Chapter 49. NOOT-dependent Control of Nodule Identity: Nodule Homeosis and Meristem Perturbation
Pascal Ratet
Volume 2
Section 9. Recognition in Nodulation
Chapter 50. Roles for Flavonoids in Symbiotic Root-Rhizosphere Interactions
Ulrike Mathesius
Chapter 51. Nod Factor Recognition in Medicago truncatula
Jean Jacques Bono
Chapter 52. Role of Ectoapyrases in Nodulation
Gary Stacey
Chapter 53. Role of Rhizobium Cellulase CelC2 in Root Colonization and Infection
Pedro Mateos
Chapter 54. Nod Factor-Induced Calcium Signaling in Legumes
Giles Oldroyd
Chapter 55. Signalling and Communication between Actinorhizal Plants and Frankia During the Intracellular Symbiotic Process
Claudine Franche
Section 10. Infection and Nodule Ontogeny
Chapter 56. The Role of Hormones in Rhizobial Infection
Jeremy Murray
Chapter 57. Nuclear Ca2+ Signaling Reveals Active Bacterial-Host Signaling throughout Rhizobial Infection in Root Hairs of Medicago truncatula
David Barker
Chapter 58. A Pectate Lyase Required for Plant-Cell Wall Remodelling During Infection of Legumes by Rhizobia
Allan Downie
Chapter 59. Dissecting The Roles in Outer and Inner Root Cell Layers of Plant Genes That Control Rhizobial Infection and Nodule Organogenesis
Clare Gough
Chapter 60. The Medicago truncatula NIP/LATD Transporter Is Essential for Nodulation and Appropriate Root Architecture
Rebecca Dickstein
Chapter 61. A MYB Coiled Coil Type Transcription Factor Interacts with NSP2 and Is Essential for Nodulation in Lotus japonicus
Zhongming Zhang
Chapter 62. AP2/ERF Transcription Factors and Root Nodulation
Fernanda de Carvalo-Niebel
Chapter 63. Identification of Medicago truncatula Genes Required for Rhizobial Invasion and Bacteroid Differentiation
Peter Kalo
Chapter 64. Multifacetted Roles of Nitric Oxide in Rhizobium-Legume Symbioses
Eliane Meilhoc
Chapter 65. Profiling Symbiotic Responses of Sinorhizobium fredii Strain NGR234 with RNA-seq
Xavier Perret
Chapter 66. Computational and Experimental Evidence That Auxin Accumulation in Nodule and Lateral Root Primordia Occurs by Different Mechanisms
Eva Elisabeth Deinum
Section 11. Transitions from the Bacterial to the Bacteroid State
Chapter 67. Bacteroid Differentiation in Legume Nodules: Role of AMP-like Host Peptides in the Control of the Endosymbiont
Eva Kondorosi
Chapter 68. The Symbiosome Membrane
Penelope Smith
Section 12. Nitrogen Fixation, Assimilation and Senescence in Nodules
Chapter 69. Nodulin Intrinsic Proteins: Facilitators of Water and Ammonia Transport across the Symbiosome Membrane
Daniel Roberts
Chapter 70. Leghemoglobins with Nitrated Hemes in Legume Root Nodule
Manuel Becana
Chapter 71. The Role of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylase Enzyme in Leguminous Nodule Senescence
Neung Teaumroong
Section 13. Microbial “Omics”
Chapter 72. Pool-Seq Analysis of Microsymbiont Selection by the Legume Plant Host
Juan Imperial
Chapter 73. Contribution of the RNA Chaperone Hfq to Environmental Fitness and Symbiosis in Sinorhizobium meliloti
José I. Jimenes-Zurdo
Chapter 74. Biodiversity, Symbiotic Efficiency and Genomics of Rhizobium tropici and Related Species
Mariangela Hungria
Chapter 75. The Frankia alni Symbiotic Transcriptome
Philippe Normand
Chapter 76. A Comprehensive Survey of Soil Rhizobiales Using High-Throughput DNA Sequencing
Ryan Jones
Chapter 77. Gene Targeted Metagenomics of Diazotrophs in Coastal Saline Soil
Bhanavath Jha
Section 14. Plant “Omics” and Functional Genetics
Chapter 78. The Medicago truncatula Genome
Frederic Debellé
Chapter 79. Leveraging Large-Scale Approaches to Dissect the Rhizobia-Legume Symbiosis
Oswaldo Valdes-Lopez
Chapter 80. LegumeIP: An Integrative Platform for Comparative Genomics and Transcriptomics of Model Legumes
Patrick Xuechun Zhao
Chapter 81. Databases of Transcription Factors in Legumes
Lam-son Phan Tran
Chapter 82. Functional Genomics of Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation in Legumes with a Focus on Transcription Factors and Membrane Transporters
Michael Udvardi
Chapter 83. Retrotransposon (Tnt1)-insertion Mutagenesis in Medicago as a Tool for Genetic Dissection of Symbiosis in Legumes
Michael Udvardi
Section 15. Cyanobacteria and Archaea
Chapter 84. Marine Titrogen Fixation: Organisms, Significance, Enigmas and Future Directions
Jonathan Zehr
Chapter 85. Requirement of Cell Wall Remodelling for Cell-Cell Communication and Cell Differentiation in Filamentous Cyanobacteria of the Order Nostocales
Karl Forchhammer
Chapter 86. Nitrogen Fixation in the Oxygenic Phototrophic Prokaryotes (Cyanobacteria): The Fight Against Oxygen
Enrique Flores
Chapter 87. Underestimation of Marine Dinitrogen Fixation: A Novel Method and Novel Diazotrophic Habitats
Ruth Schmitz
Section 16. Diazotrophic Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria and Non-Legumes
Chapter 88. One Hundred Years Discovery of Nitrogen-Fixing Rhizobacteria
Claudine Elmerich
Chapter 89. Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation in Legumes: Perspectives on the Diversity and Evolution of Nodulation by Rhizobium and Burkholderia Species
Ann Hirsch
Chapter 90. Agronomic Applications of Azospirillum and Other PGPR
Yaacov Okon
Chapter 91. Auxin Signaling in Azospirillum brasilense: A Proteome Analysis
Stijn Spaepen
Chapter 92. Genetic and Functional Characterization of Paenibacillus riograndensis: A Novel Plant Growth Promoting Bacterium Isolated from Wheat
Luciane Passaglia
Chapter 93. Role of Herbaspirillum seropedicae LPS in Plant Colonization
Rose Adele Monteiro
Chapter 94. Culture-independent Assessment of Diazotrophic Bacteria in Sugarcane and Isolation of Bradyrhizobium spp. from Field Grown Sugarcane Plants Using Legume Trap Plants
Anton Hartmann
Chapter 95. How Fertilization Affects the Selection of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria by Host Plants
Luciane Passaglia
Section 17. Field Studies, Inoculum Preparation, Applications of Nod Factors
Chapter 96. Appearance of Membrane Compromised, Viable But Not Culturable and Culturable Rhizobial Cells As A Consequence of Desiccation
Jan Vriezen
Chapter 97. Making the Most of High Quality Inoculants
Rosalind Deaker
Chapter 98. Rhizobiophages As Markers in The Selection of Symbiotically Efficient Rhizobia for Legumes
Felix Dakora
Chapter 99. Nitrogen Fixation with Soybean: The Perfect Symbiosis?
Mariangela Hungria
Chapter 100. Nodule Functioning and Symbiotic Efficiency of Cowpea and Soybean Varieties in Africa
Flora Pule Meulenberg
Chapter 101. Microbial Quality of Commercial Inoculants to Increase BNF and Nutrient Use Efficiency
Didier Lesueur
Chapter 102. Developed Fungal-Bacterial Biofilms Having Nitrogen Fixers: Universal Biofertilizers for Legumes and Non-legumes
H.M. Herath
Chapter 103. Phenotypic Variation in Azospirillum spp. and Other Root-Associated Bacteria
Anton Hartmann
Chapter 104. The physiological mechanisms of desiccation tolerance in rhizobia
Andrea Casteriano
Chapter 105. Food Grain Legumes: Their Contribution to Soil Fertility and Human Nutrition and Health in Africa
Felix Dakora
Chapter 106. Plant Breeding for Biological Nitrogen Fixation: A Review
Peter Kennedy
Chapter 107. LCO Applications Provide Improved Responses with Legumes and Non-legumes
Stewart Smith
Section 18 Nitrogen Fixation and Cereals
Chapter 108. The Quest for Biological Nitrogen Fixation in Cereals : A Perspective and Prospective
Frans J. de Bruijn
Chapter 109. Environmental and Economic Impacts of Biological N2 Fixing (BNF) Cereal Crops
Perrin Beatty
Chapter 110. Conservation of the Symbiotic Signalling Pathway between Legumes and Cereals: Did Nodulation Constraints Drive Legume Symbiotic Genes to Become Specialised During Evolution?
Charles Rosenberg
Chapter 111. Occurrence and Ecophysiology of the Natural Endophytic Rhizobium-rice Association, and Translational Assessment of its Biofertilizer Performance within the Egypt Nile Delta
Youssef Yanni
Section 19. Concluding Chapters
Chapter 112. The Relevance of N-fixation and N-recyling for Insect Biomass and N-balances of Ecosystems
Martin Heil
Chapter 113. Rapid Identification of Nodule Bacteria with MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry
Xavier Perret
Chapter 114. The Microbe-Free Plant: Fact or Artefact?
Martin Heil
