technology application
Nitrogen-fixing Bacteria Coating
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updatedOct 3, 2022
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2015 Miyuki Satake @ 2015 Miyuki Satake
By coating seeds with symbiotic bacteria that enable plants to retrieve nitrogen from the air, this biotechnology can reduce the need for expensive and damaging fertilization with synthetic nitrogen.
By coating seeds with symbiotic bacteria that enable plants to retrieve nitrogen from the air, this biotechnology can reduce the need for expensive and damaging fertilization with synthetic nitrogen.
A type of coating that employs free-living soil nitrogen-fixing bacteria such as Rhizobium to cover plant seeds, supporting the process of nitrogen fixation in crops. This symbiotic relationship occurs as the plant receives reduced nitrogen for its growth, while the bacteria are provided with energy in the form of carbohydrates and nutrients from the plant.
This biotechnology application allows different plants to fix nitrogen instead of relying on expensive and damaging synthetic fertilizers. However, there must be a match between the plant and the strain of bacteria chosen for the coating, as each plant sends a distinct chemical signal, which is recognized only by a particular strain.
