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A Simple in situ Assay to Assess Plant-Associative Bacterial Nitrogenase Activity by Timothy L. Haskett; Hayley E. Knights; Beatriz Jorrin; Marta D. Mendes; Philip S. Poole is a Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology article available to read on EtoBox.

What is A Simple in situ Assay to Assess Plant-Associative Bacterial Nitrogenase Activity about?

Assessment of plant-associative bacterial nitrogen (N) fixation is crucial for selection and development of elite diazotrophic inoculants that could be used to supply cereal crops with nitrogen in a sustainable manner. Although diazotrophic bacteria possess diverse oxygen tolerance mechanisms, most require a sub 21% oxygen environment to achieve optimal stability and function of the N-fixing catalyst nitrogenase. Consequently, assessment of N fixation is routinely carried out on “free-living” bacteria grown in the absence of a host plant and such experiments may not accurately divulge activity in the rhizosphere where the availability and forms of nutrients such as carbon and N, which are key regulators of N fixation, may vary widely. Here, we present a modified __in situ__ acetylene reduction assay (ARA), utilizing the model cereal barley as a host to comparatively assess nitrogenase activity in diazotrophic bacteria. The assay is rapid, highly reproducible, applicable to a broad range of diazotrophs, and can be performed with simple equipment commonly found in most laboratories that investigate plant-microbe interactions. Thus, the assay could serve as a first point of order for

Who reads A Simple in situ Assay to Assess Plant-Associative Bacterial Nitrogenase Activity?

Author

Timothy L. Haskett; Hayley E. Knights; Beatriz Jorrin; Marta D. Mendes; Philip S. Poole

Publisher

Frontiers Media SA

Published

2021

Language

EN

Field

Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (Life Sciences)