Question

Explain in detail 3 ways by which one can improve on the cyanobacterial nitrogen fixation in the soil environment.

Answer 1

N2 fixation by cyanobacteria requires no O2. It fixes N2 in the absence of O2 only. The enzyme nitrogenae needs anoxic conditions for n2 fixation. So soil should not have O2 to allow the enzyme to fuction.

N2 fixation in these organism occurs in the presence of light. The process of N2 fixation is a high energy consuming process. The bacteria get energy from sun light. So the process is phototrophic process.

Cyanobacteria need conditions of combined N2 deficiency. Under combined nitrogen conditions the enzyme gets repressed and hence the nitrogen fixation can't occur.