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Occurrence of nitrogen‐fixing activity and aerobic heterotrophic N 2 ‐fixing populations in Portuguese soils
Author(s) -
Oliveira A.P.,
Pampulha M.E.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of basic microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.58
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1521-4028
pISSN - 0233-111X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-4028(199811)38:5/6<389::aid-jobm389>3.0.co;2-w
Subject(s) - nitrogen fixation , heterotroph , microorganism , soil water , nitrogen , chemistry , carbon dioxide , agronomy , environmental chemistry , environmental science , biology , bacteria , ecology , soil science , organic chemistry , genetics
Nitrogen‐fixing activity in three different soil types was measured by the acetylene reduction method. N 2 ‐fixation ranged from 0.38 to 6.89 nmoles C 2 H 4 · h –1 · g –1 soil dry weight. Activity of nitrogen‐fixing microorganisms was positively correlated with the moisture content of the soil samples. Populations of aerobic, heterotrophic, N 2 ‐fixing microorganisms were estimated by dilution plate counts on three commonly used semisolid media. The different carbon sources in the media markedly influenced the counts. In general a multiple carbon source medium gave the highest counts and was chosen for future work.