Photo: Howard-Yana Shapiro
Plants such as beans, peanuts and clover have a symbiotic
relationship with rhizobium bacteria, which produce nitrogen for them. The
plants grow root nodules where the bacteria take up residence and sip on plant
sugars while converting nitrogen in the air into a form the plants utilize. This process is called nitrogen fixation.
As a gardener I have learned that it is useful to include legumes such as peas and beans in a crop rotation as it adds nitrogen back to the soil without the use
of chemical fertilizers.
Now there is
more news of an ancient corn variety grown in southern Mexico which produces a
sweet mucus that feeds bacteria. The
bacteria - in turn - pull nitrogen out of the air and fertilize the corn. If scientists can breed this trait into
conventional corn it could result in reduced fertilizer use (and adverse
environmental impacts) leading to a revolution in agriculture.
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