Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria and Plant–Microbe Interaction

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Plant Microbe Interactions".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 610

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: associative nitrogen fixation; regulatory mechanism of nif genes; functional genomics; synthetic biology

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Guest Editor
College of Biological Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Interests: legume; rhizobia; symbiotic nitrogen fixation; synthetic biology

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Guest Editor
Biotechnology Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
Interests: biofilm formation; rhizosphere; carbon catabolite repression; plant-microbe interaction; non-coding RNAs

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are a specialized group of prokaryotes that use their nitrogenase system to catalyze the conversion of dinitrogen gas (N2) into ammonia. More than 90 percent of all nitrogen fixation is effected by these organisms, which thus play an important role in the nitrogen cycle. These bacteria specifically improve the growth and development of plants by supplying them with nitrogen; therefore, their survival and proliferation require their adaptation to the rhizosphere and host plant. Based on their relationship with the host plant, nitrogen-fixing bacteria are classified as symbiotic or associative. Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) contributes approximately 200 million tons of nitrogen to the Earth's ecosystem annually and has been applied in agricultural production for almost a century. Thus, BNF is a low-cost alternative to chemical fertilizer, and its core theory and cutting-edge technology are currently a hot topic in the study of biology.

This Special Issue entitled “Nitrogen-fixing bacteria and plant–microbe interaction” aims to present recent research on any aspect of BNF. Focal points include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Legume symbiotic nitrogen fixation;
  • Non-legume nitrogen fixation;
  • The interaction of nitrogen-fixing bacteria with plants;
  • Synthetic biology research on nitrogen fixation.

Prof. Dr. Yongliang Yan
Prof. Dr. Chang-Fu Tian
Prof. Dr. Yuhua Zhan
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • biological nitrogen fixation
  • associative nitrogen fixation
  • symbiosis
  • rhizosphere
  • soil microbiome
  • rhizobia
  • nitrogenase
  • legume
  • nodule
  • plant–microbe interaction
  • synthetic biology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 1874 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Climate Variables, Soil Characteristics, and Peanut Cultivars on the Rhizobial Bacteria Community
by Juan Li, Zhong-De Yang, En-Tao Wang, Li-Qin Sun and Yan Li
Microorganisms 2025, 13(4), 926; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms13040926 - 17 Apr 2025
Viewed by 195
Abstract
Peanuts are widely cultivated across the world; however, peanut’s rhizobial community and the determinant factors of their composition are still to be elucidated. This study investigates the biogeography and determinant soil environmental factors for peanut rhizobia. A total of 1001 rhizobial isolates were [...] Read more.
Peanuts are widely cultivated across the world; however, peanut’s rhizobial community and the determinant factors of their composition are still to be elucidated. This study investigates the biogeography and determinant soil environmental factors for peanut rhizobia. A total of 1001 rhizobial isolates were obtained from the peanut root nodules, mainly belonging to two cultivars (X9 and M6) cultivated in 20 sampling sites across China. According to recA sequence analysis, all the isolates were classified as 84 haplotypes, and a representative strain for each haplotype was randomly selected to perform subsequent analyses. Based on multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) of housekeeping genes dnaK, glnII, gyrB, recA, and rpoB, all the representative strains were classified as 42 genospecies in the genus Bradyrhizobium, including 12 effectively published and 30 undefined genospecies. Strains belonging to six genospecies were predominant (>5%), including B. ottawaense, B. liaoningense, B. yuanmingense, Bradyrhizobium sp. XXIX, B. guangdongense, and B. nanningense. However, only a single isolate was obtained for 15 genospecies. The diversity indices of peanut rhizobia distributed in South China are obviously higher than those in North China, but no obvious peanut cultivar selection for rhizobial genospecies was found. Correlation analyses indicated that the community composition of peanut rhizobia was mainly affected by MAP, MAT, soil AP, and pH. Nodulation tests indicated that the 79 representative strains belonging to 37 genospecies with both nodC and nifH could perform nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with peanuts. This study revealed the great diversity and varied composition of communities of peanut rhizobia in different geographic regions across China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria and Plant–Microbe Interaction)
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