Associative and Endophytic Nitrogen-fixing Bacteria and Cyanobacterial Associations

Book excerpt: This self-contained volume covers fundamental and applied aspects of nitrogen-fixation research. The book describes milestones in the discovery of the associative and endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacteria found involved with cereal crops, forage grasses, and sugar cane. It provides a comprehensive overview of their phylogeny, physiology, and genetics as well as of the biology of their association with their host plants, including tools for in situ localization and population-dynamics analysis. Also included are chapters describing the functions required for a bacterium to be competent and competitive in the rhizosphere, and analysis of associations of cyanobacteria with fungi, diatoms, bryophytes, cycads, Azolla, and Gunnera.