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Management of Biological Nitrogen Fixation for the Development of More Productive and Sustainable Agricultural Systems pp 211–224Cite as

Biological N2 fixation by heterotrophic and phototrophic bacteria in association with straw

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Part of the book series: Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences ((BSPS))

Abstract

Much of the crop residues, including cereal straw, that are produced worldwide are lost by burning. Plant residues, and in particular straw, contain large amounts of carbon (cellulose and hemicellulose) which can serve as substrates for the production of microbial biomass and for biological N2 fixation by a range of free-living, diazotroph-ic bacteria. Microorganisms with the dual ability to utilise cellulose and fix N2 are rare, but some strains that utilize hemicellulose and fix N2 have been found. Generally, cellulolysis and diazotrophy are carried out by a mixed microbial community in which N2-fixing bacteria utilise cellobiose and glucose produced from straw by cellulolytic microorganisms. N2-fixing bacteria include heterotrophic and phototrophic organisms and the latter are apparently more prominent in flooded soils such as rice paddies than in dryland soils. The relative contributions of N2 fixed by heterotrophic diazotrophic bacteria compared with cyanobacteria and other phototrophic bacteria depend on the availability of substrates from straw decomposition and on environmental pressures. Measurements of asymbiotic N2 fixation are limited and variable but, in rice paddy systems, rates of 25 kg N ha-1 over 30 days have been found, whereas in dryland systems with wheat straw, in situ measurements have indicated up to 12 kg N ha-1 over 22 days. Straw-associated N2 fixation is directly affected by environmental factors such as temperature, moisture, oxygen concentration, soil pH and clay content as well as farm management practices. Modification of managements and use of inoculants offer ways of improving asymbiotic N2 fixation

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  1. International Rice Research Institute, P.O. Box 933, 1099, Manila, Philippines

    Margaret M. Roper & J. K. Ladha

  2. CSIRO Centre for Mediterranean Agricultural Research, Private Bag, P.O. Wembley, Western Australia, 6014, Australia

    Margaret M. Roper & J. K. Ladha

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J. K. Ladha M. B. Peoples

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Roper, M.M., Ladha, J.K. (1995). Biological N2 fixation by heterotrophic and phototrophic bacteria in association with straw. In: Ladha, J.K., Peoples, M.B. (eds) Management of Biological Nitrogen Fixation for the Development of More Productive and Sustainable Agricultural Systems. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-0055-7_10

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