Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are a crucial, if largely unknown, part of our ecosystem. They're how plants and animals get nitrogen from the air.
All living things need nitrogen to survive. The element forms the structure of the proteins that keep us alive and the DNA that codes for them. Luckily, it’s also all around us, making up 78 percent of Earth’s atmosphere. But there’s a catch: most living things can’t use the nitrogen found in the air.
Without the natural action of diazotrophs, whether it be in the soil or in direct relationship, wild plants would not have enough accessible nitrogen to survive. This dependency affects the entire food chain: the protein plants produce using fixed nitrogen is consumed by plant-eating animals, which in turn yield this protein to carnivores.
The microbes can also be modified to churn out more fixed nitrogen for their hosts. Because the energetic cost is so high, many nitrogen fixing bacteria will shut off if they detect sufficient ammonia in the soil.
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria and other hard-working soil microbes need to be fed in order to supply the elemental materials crops need to grow. Farmers must supply their microbial partners with a source of carbon biomass to keep them energized, and industrial waste is a good place to start. LeBlanc’s LP Consulting connects farmers with industrial partners looking to get rid of biomass-rich waste products. She says her team has worked with wood ash, biosolids, and waste from paper-making to date.
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