Nitrogen fixation research is presented as a rapidly developing, synergistic area of modern science, using the methods of, and accumulating data from, many fundamental branches of biology and chemistry. These include catalytic mechanisms, protein structure and function, molecular organization of genes and the regulation of their activities, biochemistry of plants and microorganisms, the signalling and surface interactions between organisms, microbial taxonomy and evolution, formal and population genetics, and ecology. The relationships between biological nitrogen fixation research and different branches of applied biology are addressed and analyzed, such as: the monitoring of genetically engineered microorganisms, selection of plant-associated microbes, plant breeding, increasing the protein content of crops, providing ecologically safe food production, and diminishing the chemical pollution of the environment. Immediate impacts and long-term prospects for nitrogen fixation research are presented: both fundamentals and applications.

Inhalt

Section 1: Introductory and overview lectures. Section 2: Chemistry and biochemistry of nitrogenases. Section 3: Regulation of nitrogen fixation. Section 4: Signalling processes in plant-microbe interactions. Section 5: Symbiotically essential bacterial genes and dynamics of Rhizobium genome. Section 6: Plant responses in symbiosis. Section 7: Energetics of nitrogen-fixing systems. Integration of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen metabolism. Section 8: Ecology and agricultural applications of nitrogen-fixing systems. Round table discussion. Section 9: Round table discussion on urgent issues. Author index.