Scientists discovered a small protein region that determines whether plants reject or welcome nitrogen-fixing bacteria. By ...

In laboratory experiments, the researchers successfully engineered this change in barley and found that the mechanism worked ...

Here’s a quick look at how several common cover crops compare across several key factors: Nitrogen provided: Effective fixer, inoculation can help in warmer regions to ensure optimal nitrogen ...

All known life forms require nitrogen. However, more than 70% of all nitrogen on Earth occurs as inert, triple-bonded dinitrogen gas in the atmosphere, which is generally biologically unavailable. A ...

If this trait can be transferred successfully, these crops could become self-sufficient in nitrogen. This would reduce the ...

Nitrogen-fixing plants provide critical nitrogen inputs that support the high productivity of tropical forests, but our understanding of the ecology of nitrogen fixers – and especially their ...

Overestimated nitrogen availability has led climate models to exaggerate how much plant growth can offset rising CO2 levels. Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a major driver of ...

Bacteria are only the only organisms that are able to 'fix' nitrogen, or remove it from the atmosphere and convert it into a useful form. While some plants seem to fix nitrogen, it is actually ...

Joy B. Winbourne is in the Department of Earth, Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854, USA. Barker and colleagues tested whether ...

In Death Valley National Park, which straddles the California-Nevada border, mesquite plants (genus Prosopis) thrive in extreme aridity. While most vegetation types must extract most of their ...

The ability of tropical forests to grow and store carbon is limited, in part, by herbivory. Insects and other animals prefer to feed on nitrogen-fixing trees, reducing the success of fixers and the ...

If you liked this story, share it with other people. Researchers recently discovered two new phytoplankton species: Epithemia pelagica and Epithemia catenata. The species were found to carry out ...