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Toward a new concept of the evolution of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the Leguminosae

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Abstract

It is generally believed that only the nodulating species of the Leguminosae fix atmospheric nitrogen; however, anatomical, ecological and taxonomic considerations indicate that non-nodulating legume species may also fix nitrogen. To test whether nitrogen-fixing symbioses in the Leguminosae might extend to the non-nodulating species, a survey of the Leguminosae was conducted: living plants of non-nodulating species were assayed using acetylene reduction. Ethylene evolution, indicating apparent nitrogenase activity, was detected in non-nodulating species representing the major taxonomic groups of Caesalpinioideae as well as in non-nodulating species of the Papilionoideae and Mimosoideae. Non-nodules nitrogen fixation appears to have provided evolutionary precursors for the nodular symbiosis in the Leguminosae.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 205 Prospect Street, 06511, New Haven, CT, USA

    James A. Bryan, Graeme P. Berlyn & John C. Gordon

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  1. James A. Bryan
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  2. Graeme P. Berlyn
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  3. John C. Gordon
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Bryan, J.A., Berlyn, G.P. & Gordon, J.C. Toward a new concept of the evolution of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in the Leguminosae. Plant Soil 186, 151–159 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00035069

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