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NITROGEN FIXATION ASSOCIATED WITH NATURAL AND CULTIVATED STANDS OF TYPHA LATIFOLIA L. (TYPHACEAE)
Author(s) -
Biesboer David D.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1984.tb12535.x
Subject(s) - biology , diazotroph , nitrogen fixation , rhizosphere , rhizome , botany , nitrogenase , population , bacteria , demography , sociology , genetics
Acetylene reduction by bacteria associated with Typha latifolia L. roots and rhizomes was studied in the field and in the laboratory. In situ studies indicated that the rate of acetylene reduction in a natural cattail population was ca. 4‐fold higher than in a cultivated cattail stand. Nitrogenase activity was found to occur principally in the rhizosphere of roots and rhizomes with the greatest activity occurring in association with mature roots. Scanning electron and light microscopy, and 2, 3, 5 triphenyltetrazolium chloride reduction showed that bacterial associations were limited to the rhizoplane of this angiosperm. One diazotrophic bacterial genus was found to be associated with roots and rhizomes and was identified as the facultative anaerobe Bacillus. Contribution of free‐living cyanobacteria to total nitrogen fixation in the natural stand was negligible. Calculations show that a natural stand of cattails may fix 18 kg nitrogen ha −‐1 yr −‐1 or ca. 8.2% of the total nitrogen present in the standing crop.