Nitrogen fixation is the biological process by which atmospheric dinitrogen gas (N₂) is reduced to bioavailable ammonia (NH₃), primarily by prokaryotes possessing the nitrogenase enzyme complex. This ATP-intensive reaction requires strong reducing power and functions only under conditions that protect nitrogenase from irreversible inactivation by oxygen, achieved via specialized cells (heterocysts), microaerobic environments, or respiratory protection. Nitrogen fixation occurs in free-living and symbiotic bacteria and archaea, including rhizobia in legume root nodules, and constitutes a key entry point of inert atmospheric nitrogen into the biosphere, supporting primary productivity and influencing global nitrogen cycling.
Most plants allow fungal microorganisms to enter their root cells and provide them with carbohydrates in exchange for a better supply of nutrients and water. Only leguminous plants like peas, beans, and clover enter into ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 9, 2026
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A new accounting of nitrogen pollution in the Mississippi-Atchafalaya River Basin (MARB) reveals a significant decline in recent decades, suggesting positive momentum for water quality goals in local watersheds and the Gulf ...
Ecology
Mar 2, 2026
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Researchers at University of Tsukuba have uncovered a master transcriptional regulator that controls rhizobial symbiosis between plants and nitrogen-fixing bacteria. By identifying an amino acid motif that emerged before ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Feb 13, 2026
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Ammonia, a key part of nitrogen fertilizers, is central to sustaining global food production. However, its manufacture is also energy intensive: Ammonia production requires 2% of global energy to meet global demand. Approximately ...
Bio & Medicine
Feb 4, 2026
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By resurrecting a 3.2-billion-year-old enzyme and studying it inside living microbes, researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have created a new way to improve our understanding of the origins of life on Earth ...
Astrobiology
Jan 22, 2026
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Under the lead of the Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW) the influence of parasitic fungi on the physiology and survival of cyanobacteria in the Baltic Sea was investigated. Such infections are known ...
Ecology
Jan 21, 2026
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Heat-resilient biofertilizers could help crops cope with rising temperatures but engineering them has been slow and uncertain. A new study at the National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) shows that pairing ...
Biotechnology
Jan 12, 2026
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In a study published in Science, researchers have resolved, for the first time, the high-resolution crystal structure of the complex formed between the NodD protein of pea rhizobia and a flavonoid compound (hesperetin). They ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Jan 9, 2026
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Researchers at the National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed dissolving microneedle patches that deliver living "biofertilizer" straight into plant tissue. In greenhouse tests, Choy Sum and Kale grew faster—by ...
Biotechnology
Dec 9, 2025
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University of Alberta geochemists have discovered a missing piece to one of the great mysteries of science—the origin of life on Earth.
Earth Sciences
Dec 2, 2025
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