Quest for the Missing Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria
September 4, 2013| |
Plant biologist Maren Friesen from Michigan State University (MSU) is leading a team to solve the mystery of a missing bacterium known to enable plants to grow without nitrogen from manmade fertilizers. The bacterium was discovered in a German charcoal pit in the 1900s but was lost when studies about it stopped 20 years ago, according to Friesen.
Friesen said that "rediscovering this bacterium, or ones with similar properties, would be a game-changer. It contains an unusual system for fixing nitrogen in the presence of oxygen, which could be a missing piece in the puzzle for creating nitrogen-fixing plants." Most nitrogen-fixing bacteria use an enzyme that does not work when oxygen is present, but the heat and toxic gas-loving strain appeared to have exceptional properties.
Friesen's research is part of the Ideas Lab collaboration between the National Science Foundation and UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
For more details about this research, read the MSU news release available at: http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2013/quest-for-the-missing-bacteria/.
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