Abstract
Not all prokaryotes capable of biological nitrogen fixation require nodules to fix nitrogen (N2). A wide range of Bacillus genus members have been reported for their N2-fixing ability, as they can fix and provide N2 to a wide range of host plants. Besides N2 fixation, these bacteria possess several plant growth–promoting abilities such as growth hormone production, phosphate solubilization, and siderophore production for iron acquisition. They also have the capability to protect plants against phytopathogens through production of cell wall–degrading enzymes and antibiotic metabolites, and also through elicitation of plant defense systems. This chapter reviews and discusses the role of Bacillus spp. in N2 fixation and perspectives on their agricultural development.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Achouak W, Normand P, Heulin T (1999) Comparative phylogeny of rrs and nifH genes in the Bacillaceae. Int J Syst Bacteriol 49:961–967
Asaka O, Shoda M (1996) Biocontrol of Rhizoctonia solani damping-off of tomato with Bacillus subtilis RB14. Appl Environ Microbiol 62:4081–4085
Atkinson MR, Fisher SH (1991) Identification of genes and gene products whose expression is activated during nitrogen-limited growth in Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol 173:23–27
Auman AJ, Speake CC, Lidstrom ME (2001) nifH sequences and nitrogen fixation in type I and type II methanotrophs. Appl Environ Microbiol 67:4009–4016
Barnawal D, Maji D, Bharti N, Chanotiya CS, Kalra A (2013) ACC deaminase–containing Bacillus subtilis reduces stress ethylene–induced damage and improves mycorrhizal colonization and rhizobial nodulation in Trigonella foenum-graecum under drought stress. J Plant Growth Regul 32:809–822
Barnawal D, Pandey SS, Bharti N, Pandey A, Ray T, Singh S, Chanotiya CS, Kalra A (2017) ACC deaminase--containing plant growth--promoting rhizobacteria protect Papaver somniferum from downy mildew. J Appl Microbiol 122:1286–1298
Basha S, Ulaganathan K (2002) Antagonism of Bacillus species (strain BC121) towards Curvularia lunata. Curr Sci 82:1457–1463
Berge O, Guinebretiere MH, Achouak W, Normand P, Heulin T (2002) Paenibacillus graminis sp. nov. and Paenibacillus odorifer sp. nov., isolated from plant roots, soil and food. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 52:607–616
Choudhary DK, Johri BN (2009) Interactions of Bacillus spp. and plants—with special reference to induced systemic resistance (ISR). Microbiolog Res 164:493–513
Claus D, Berkeley RCW (1986) Bergey’s manual of systematic bacteriology. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, pp 1105–1139
Ding Y, Wang J, Liu Y, Chen S (2005) Isolation and identification of nitrogen-fixing bacilli from plant rhizospheres in Beijing region. J Appl Microbiol 99:1271–1281
Elkoca E, Kantar F, Sahin F (2007) Influence of nitrogen fixing and phosphorus solubilizing bacteria on the nodulation, plant growth, and yield of chickpea. J Plant Nutr 31:157–171
Elo S, Suominen I, Kampfer P, Juhanoja J, Salkinoja-Salonen M, Haahtela K (2001) Paenibacillus borealis sp. nov., a nitrogen-fixing species isolated from spruce forest humus in Finland. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 51:535–545
Eskin N, Vessey K, Tian L (2014) Research progress and perspectives of nitrogen fixing bacterium, Gluconacetobacter diazotrophicus, in monocot plants. Int J Agron. https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/208383
Fan P, Chen D, He Y, Zhou Q, Tian Y, Gao L (2016) Alleviating salt stress in tomato seedlings using Arthrobacter and Bacillus megaterium isolated from the rhizosphere of wild plants grown on saline–alkaline lands. Inter J Phytoremed 18:1113–1121
Ferson AE, Wray LV, Fisher SH (1996) Expression of the Bacillus subtilis gabP gene is regulated independently in response to nitrogen and amino acid availability. Mol Microbiol 22:693–701
Fisher SH (1999) Regulation of nitrogen metabolism in Bacillus subtilis: vive la difference! Mole Microbiol 32:223–232
Fisher SH, Rohrer K, Ferson AE (1996) Role of CodY in regulation of the Bacillus subtilis hut operon. J Bacteriol 178:3779–3784
Galloway JN, Aber JD, Erisman JW, Seitzinger SP, Howarth RW, Cowling EB, Cosby BJ (2003) The nitrogen cascade. AIBS Bull 53:341–356
Gardener BBMS (2004) Ecology of Bacillus and Paenibacillus spp. in agricultural systems. Phytopathol 94:1252–1258
Govindasamy V, Senthilkumar M, Magheshwaran V, Kumar U, Bose P, Sharma V, Annapurna K (2010) Bacillus and Paenibacillus spp.: potential PGPR for sustainable agriculture. In: Maheshwari DK (ed) Plant growth and health promoting bacteria. Springer, Berlin, pp 333–364
Gowtham HG, Singh B, Murali M, Shilpa N, Prasad M, Aiyaz M, Amruthesh KN, Niranjana SR (2020) Induction of drought tolerance in tomato upon the application of ACC deaminase producing plant growth promoting rhizobacterium Bacillus subtilis Rhizo SF 48. Microbiol Res 234:126422
Heulin T, Berge O, Mavingui P, Gouzou L, Hebbar KP, Balandreau J (1994) Bacillus polymyxa and Rahnella aquatilis, the dominant N 2 -fixing bacteria associated with wheat rhizosphere in French soils. Eur J Soil Biol 30:35–42
Jain S, Kumari S, Vaishnav A, Choudhary DK, Sharma KP (2016) Isolation and characterization of plant growth promoting bacteria from soybean rhizosphere and their effect on soybean plant growth promotion. Int J Adv Sci Tech Res 5:398–410
Jain S, Vaishnav A, Kumari S, Varma A, Tuteja N, Choudhary DK (2017) Chitinolytic Bacillus-mediated induction of jasmonic acid and defense-related proteins in soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill) plant against Rhizoctonia solani and Fusarium oxysporum. J Plant Growth Regul 36:200–214
Jiang L, Kaiyun WA, Yuguo WU, Kaiyuan WA, Xinjun FA (2019) Application of bio-organic fertilizer containing high-efficient nitrogen-fixing Bacillus amyloliquefaciens on strawberry. Agri Biotechnol 8:2164–4993
Karagoz FP, Dursun A (2019) Effects of nitrogen fixing and phosphate solubilizing bacteria on growth and bulbs production of tulip cultivars. Ege Üniversitesi Ziraat Fakültesi Dergisi 56:241–248
Kim JS, Lee J, Lee CH, Woo SY, Kang H, Seo SG, Kim SH (2015) Activation of pathogenesis-related genes by the Rhizobacterium, Bacillus sp. JS, which induces systemic resistance in tobacco plants. Plant Pathol J 31:195
Kumar P, Dubey RC, Maheshwari DK (2012) Bacillus strains isolated from rhizosphere showed plant growth promoting and antagonistic activity against phytopathogens. Microbiol Res 167:493–499
Liu ZL, Sinclair JB (1992) Population dynamics of Bacillus megaterium strain B153–2-2 in the rhizosphere of soybean. Phytopathology 82:1297–1301
Liu D, Yang Q, Ge K, Hu X, Qi G, Du B, Liu K, Ding Y (2017) Promotion of iron nutrition and growth on peanut by Paenibacillus illinoisensis and Bacillus sp. strains in calcareous soil. Br J Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjm.2017.02.006
López-Otín C, Overall CM (2002) Protease degradomics: a new challenge for proteomics. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 3:509–519
Mehta MP, Butterfield DA, Baross JA (2003) Phylogenetic diversity of nitrogenase (nifH) genes in deep-sea and hydrothermal vent environments of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Appl Environ Microbiol 69:960–970
Monteiro L, Mariano R, de Lima R, Souto-Maior AM (2005) Antagonism of Bacillus spp. against Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris. Braz Arch Biol Technol 48:23–29
Mylona P, Pawlowski K, Bisseling T (1995) Symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Plant Cell 7:869
Nakano MM, Hoffman T, Zhu Y, Jahn D (1998) Nitrogen and oxygen regulation of Bacillus subtilis nasDEF encoding NADH-dependent nitrite reductase by TnrA and ResDE. J Bacteriol 180:5344–5350
Nie P, Li X, Wang S, Guo J, Zhao H, Niu D (2017) Induced systemic resistance against Botrytis cinerea by Bacillus cereus AR156 through a JA/ET– and NPR1-dependent signaling pathway and activates PAMP-triggered immunity in Arabidopsis. Front Plant Sci 8:238
Peoples MB, Herridge DF, Ladha JK (1995) Biological nitrogen fixation: an efficient source of nitrogen for sustainable agricultural production? In: Ladha JK, Peoples MB (eds) Management of biological nitrogen fixation for the development of more productive and sustainable agricultural systems. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 3–28
Pinchuk IV, Bressollier P, Sorokulova IB, Verneuil B, Urdaci MC (2002) Amicoumacin antibiotic production and genetic diversity of Bacillus subtilis strains isolated from different habitats. Res Microbiol 153:269–276
Porcel R, Zamarreño ÁM, García-Mina JM, Aroca R (2014) Involvement of plant endogenous ABA in Bacillus megaterium PGPR activity in tomato plants. BMC Plant Biol 14:36
Prakash J, Arora NK (2019) Phosphate-solubilizing Bacillus sp. enhances growth, phosphorus uptake and oil yield of Mentha arvensis L. 3 Biotech 9:126
Priest F (1993) Systematics and ecology of Bacillus: Bacillus subtilis and other Gram-positive bacteria, biochemistry, physiology, and molecular genetics. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, pp 3–16
Robertson GP, Vitousek PM (2009) Nitrogen in agriculture: balancing the cost of an essential resource. Annu Rev Environ Resour 34:97–125
Rosch C, Mergel A, Bothe H (2002) Biodiversity of denitrifying and dinitrogen-fixing bacteria in an acid forest soil. Appl Environ Microbiol 68:3818–3829
Ruiz-Herrera J, León-Ramírez C, Vera-Nuñez A, Sánchez-Arreguín A, Ruiz-Medrano R, Salgado-Lugo H, Sánchez-Segura L, Peña-Cabriales JJ (2015) A novel intracellular nitrogen-fixing symbiosis made by Ustilago maydis and Bacillus spp. New Phytol 207:769–777
Ryu CM, Kima J, Choi O, Kima SH, Park CS (2006) Improvement of biological control capacity of Paenibacillus polymyxa E681 by seed pelleting on sesame. Biol Control 39:282–289
Saeid A, Prochownik E, Dobrowolska-Iwanek J (2018) Phosphorus solubilization by Bacillus species. Molecules 23:2897
Salerno CM, Sagardoy MA (2003) Antagonistic activity by Bacillus subtilis against Xanthomonas campestris pv. glycines under controlled conditions. Span J Agric Res 1:55–58
Satyaprakash M, Nikitha T, Reddi EU, Sadhana B, Vani SS (2017) Phosphorous and phosphate solubilising bacteria and their role in plant nutrition. Int J Curr Microbiol App Sci 6:2133–2144
Seldin L, van Elsas JD, Penido EGC (1984) Bacillus azotofixans sp. nov., a nitrogen-fixing species from Brazilian soils and grass roots. Int J Syst Bacteriol 34:451–456
Senthilkumar M, Govindasamy V, Annapurna K (2007) Role of antibiosis in suppression of charcoal rot disease by soybean endophyte Paenibacillus sp. HKA-15. Curr Microbiol 55:25–29
Seo DJ, Nguyen DM, Song YS, Jung WJ (2012) Induction of defense response against Rhizoctonia solani in cucumber plants by endophytic bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis GS1. J Microbiol Biotechnol 22:407–415
Sibponkrung S, Kondo T, Tanaka K, Tittabutr P, Boonkerd N, Yoshida KI, Teaumroong N (2020) Co-inoculation of Bacillus velezensis strain S141 and Bradyrhizobium strains promotes nodule growth and nitrogen fixation. Microorganisms 8:678
Singh RK, Singh P, Li HB, Song QQ, Guo DJ, Solanki MK, Verma KK, Malviya MK, Song XP, Lakshmanan P, Yang LT (2020) Diversity of nitrogen-fixing rhizobacteria associated with sugarcane: a comprehensive study of plant–microbe interactions for growth enhancement in Saccharum spp. BMC Plant Biol 20:1–21
Timmusk S, Wagner EGH (1999) The plant-growth-promoting rhizobacterium Paenibacillus polymyxa induces changes in Arabidopsis thaliana gene expression: a possible connection between biotic and abiotic stress responses. Mol Plant Microbe Interact 12:951–959
Toro M, Azcon R, Barea JM (1997) Improvement of arbuscular mycorrhizal development by inoculation with phosphate-solubilizing rhizobacteria to improve rock phosphate bioavailability (32P) and nutrient cycling. Appl Environ Microbiol 63:4408–4412
Vessey JK, Pawlowski K, Bergman B (2005) Root-based N2-fixing symbioses: legumes, actinorhizal plants, Parasponia sp. and cycads. Plant Soil 274:51–78
Von der Weid I, Duarte GF, van Elsas JD (2002) Paenibacillus brasilensis sp. nov., a novel nitrogen-fixing species isolated from the maize rhizosphere in Brazil. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 52:2147–2153
Wahyudi AT, Astuti RP, Widyawati A, Mery A, Nawangsih AA (2011) Characterization of Bacillus sp. strains isolated from rhizosphere of soybean plants for their use as potential plant growth for promoting rhizobacteria. J Microbiol Antimicrob 3:34–40
Wang S, Liu F, Chen C, Xu X (2007) Life cycle emissions of greenhouse gas for ammonia scrubbing technology. Korean J Chem Eng 24:495–498
Wang W, Wu Z, He Y, Huang Y, Li X, Ye BC (2018) Plant growth promotion and alleviation of salinity stress in Capsicum annuum L. by Bacillus isolated from saline soil in Xinjiang. Ecotox Environ Safe 164:520–529
Weselowski B, Nathoo N, Eastman AW, MacDonald J, Yuan ZC (2016) Isolation, identification and characterization of Paenibacillus polymyxa CR1 with potentials for biopesticide, biofertilization, biomass degradation and biofuel production. BMC Microbiol 16:244
Williamson JM (2011) The role of information and prices in the nitrogen fertilizer management decision: new evidence from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey. J Agr Resour Econ 1:552–572
Witz DF, Detroy RW, Wilson PW (1967) Nitrogen fixation by growing cells and cell-free extracts of the Bacillaceae. Arch Microbiol 55:369–381
Wray LV, Ferson AE, Fisher SH (1997) Expression of the Bacillus subtilis ureABC operon is controlled by multiple regulatory factors including CodY, GlnR, TnrA, and Spo0H. J Bacteriol 179:5494–5501
Wray LV Jr, Zalieckas JM, Fisher SH (1998) Mutational analysis of the TnrA-binding sites in the Bacillus subtilis nrgAB and gabP promoter regions. J Bacteriol 180:2943–2949
Xie GH, Su BL, Cui ZJ (1998) Isolation and identification of N2-fixing strains of Bacillus in rice rhizosphere of the Yangtze River Valley. Acta Microbiol Sin 38:480–483
Xie S, Liu J, Gu S, Chen X, Jiang H, Ding T (2020) Antifungal activity of volatile compounds produced by endophytic Bacillus subtilis DZSY21 against Curvularia lunata. Ann Microbiol. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13213-020-01553-0
Zerrouk IZ, Rahmoune B, Auer S, Rösler S, Lin T, Baluska F, Dobrev PI, Motyka V, Ludwig-Müller J (2020) Growth and aluminum tolerance of maize roots mediated by auxin- and cytokinin-producing Bacillus toyonensis requires polar auxin transport. Environ Exp Bot 18:104064
Zhou C, Guo J, Zhu L, Xiao X, Xie Y, Zhu J, Ma Z, Wang J (2016) Paenibacillus polymyxa BFKC01 enhances plant iron absorption via improved root systems and activated iron acquisition mechanisms. Plant Physiol Biochem 105:162–173
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jain, S., Varma, A., Choudhary, D.K. (2021). Perspectives on Nitrogen-Fixing Bacillus Species. In: Cruz, C., Vishwakarma, K., Choudhary, D.K., Varma, A. (eds) Soil Nitrogen Ecology. Soil Biology, vol 62. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71206-8_18
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71206-8_18
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-71205-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-71206-8
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)