Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) - the conversion of molecular nitrogen into ammonia - is one of the most important reactions in ecology and agriculture. It is performed exclusively by microbes (prokaryotes) that live in symbiosis with plants. This book summarizes the latest research on this reaction, the participating microbes and the genetics of how their relevant genes could be transferred into the plants. In the light of a more sustainable and less ecologically damaging agriculture, this is becoming an increasingly pressing issue.

Autorentext
Prof. Dr. Hermann Bothe hat jahrelang am Botanischen Institut der Universität zu Köln die Kurse für Systematische Botanik geleitet. Seit über dreißig Jahren führt er botanische Exkursionen im Großraum Köln und anderen Gebieten durch. Er arbeitete an physiologischen, biochemischen und molekularen Fragestellungen in der Botanik und Mikrobiologie und hat etwa 200 Originalpublikationen in internationalen wissenschaftlichen Zeitschriften aufzuweisen. Hinzu kommen manche populärwissenschaftliche Artikel in unterschiedlichen Medien.

Inhalt
Structural Chemistry and Biochemistry of Nitrogenase. - Signal Perception, Transduction and Cell Cycle Genes in Nodulation. - Plant Genes Involved in Nodulation. - Bacterium-Plant Surface Interaction. - Molecular Microbial Ecology. - Nitrogen Fixing Systems. - Nitrogen Fixation in Sustainable Agriculture. - Carbon-Nitrogen Metabolism in Symbiotic Systems. - Oxygen Regulation in Nitrogen Fixation. - Model Plants for Nitrogen Fixation and Legume Genetics. - Coevolution of Symbiotic Systems.