15N2 Fixation by Bacteria Associated with Maize Roots at a Low Partial O2 Pressure

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Nitrogen fixation by bacteria associated with roots of intact maize plants was measured by exposing the roots to 15N2 at a partial O2 pressure (pO2) of 2 or 10 kPa. The plants were grown in a mixture of Weswood soil and sand and then transferred to plastic cylinders containing an N-free plant nutrient solution. The solution was sparged continuously with a mixture of air and N2 at a pO2 of 2 or 10 kPa. Acetylene reduction was measured after the roots were exposed to the low pO2 overnight. The air-N2 atmosphere in the cylinders was then replaced with an O2-He atmosphere at the same pO2, and the roots were exposed to 20 kPa of 15N2 for 20 to 22 h. Incorporation of 15N into the roots was 200 times greater at 2 kPa of O2 than at 10 kPa of O2. Adding l-malate (1 g of C liter−1) to the nutrient solution increased root-associated nitrogenase activity, producing a strong 15N label which could be traced into the shoots. Fixed 15N was detected in the shoots within 5 days after the plants were returned to unfertilized soil. In a similar experiment with undisturbed plants grown in fritted clay, movement of fixed 15N into the shoots was evident within 4 days after the roots were exposed to 15N2 at 2 kPa of O2. Inoculation with Azospirillum lipoferum yielded no significant differences in shoot dry weight, total nitrogen content, percent nitrogen, or 15N enrichment of plant tissues. Inoculated plants did exhibit greater root dry weight than uninoculated plants, however.

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