Abstract
Nitrogen is one of the essential elements for plant growth and development in terms of DNA and protein synthesis. Its main reservoir in nature is the atmosphere; however, inert molecular nitrogen present in the air isn't a suitable nitrogen form for plants' nutrition. Therefore it has to be chemically transformed to NH4 + or NO3 - ion by the process known as biological nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen fixation is carried out by free-living or symbiotic nitrogen-fixing prokaryotes (diazotrophs), including bacteria, archaea and cyanobacteria. In order to be used as plant inoculants for nitrogen fixation, the biomass of these prokaryotes must be produced and formulated appropriately through different biotechnological processes. The aim of this study is to summarize the main aspects of biotechnological production of plant inoculants based on nitrogen-fixing bacteria in terms of upstream processing, cultivation and downstream processing, with a special emphasis on cultivation media composition, cultivation conditions, biomass separation and formulation techniques.
Highlights
Plants require nitrogen as one of the essential elements responsible for plant growth and development, whose most important role reflects in DNA and protein synthesis
The aim of this study is to summarize the main aspects of biotechnological production of plant inoculants based on nitrogen-fixing bacteria in terms of upstream processing, cultivation and downstream processing, with a special emphasis on cultivation media composition, cultivation conditions, biomass separation and formulation techniques
The aim of this study is to give a useful overview of the available solutions when it comes to biotechnological production of microbial inoculants based on nitrogen-fixing bacteria, with a special perspective on upstream processing, cultivation conditions and downstream processing
Summary
Plants require nitrogen as one of the essential elements responsible for plant growth and development, whose most important role reflects in DNA and protein synthesis. The atmosphere is the main reservoir of nitrogen in nature. Inert molecular nitrogen present in the air isn’t a suitable nitrogen form for assimilation by plants (Franche et al, 2009). Molecular nitrogen from the air has to be chemically transformed to NH4+ or NO3- ions in order to be assimilable by plants. The process responsible for this transformation is known as biological nitrogen fixation and it is carried out by free-living or symbiotic nitrogen-fixing prokaryotes called diazotrophs, which are present freely in the soil or participate in a symbiotic relationship with plants aimed at providing plants with assimilable forms of nitrogen, as well as with growth factors (Bhattacharjee et al, 2008), on one hand, while, on the other hand, symbiotic plants produce rhizospheric compounds accessible to and usable by symbiotic nitrogen-fixators. The main groups of nitrogenfixing prokaryotes include bacteria (genera Rhizobium, Frankia, Azotobacter, Azospirillum, Mycobacterium and Bacillus), archaea (genera Methanococcales, Methanobacteriales and Methanomicrobiales) and cyanobacteria (genera Anabaena, Nostoc, Tolypothrix and Anabaenopsis) (Soumare et al, 2020)
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