Root-Associated N 2 Fixation (Acetylene Reduction) by Enterobacteriaceae and Azospirillum Strains in Cold-Climate Spodosols

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Abstract
N2 fixation by bacteria in associative symbiosis with washed roots of 13 Poaceae and 8 other noncultivated plant species in Finland was demonstrated by the acetylene reduction method. The roots most active in C2H2 reduction were those of Agrostis stolonifera, Calamagrostis lanceolata, Elytrigia repens, and Phalaris arundinacea, which produced 538 to 1,510 nmol of C2H4·g−1 (dry weight)· h−1 when incubated at pO2 0.04 with sucrose (pH 6.5), and 70 to 269 nmol of C2H4· g−1 (dry weight)·h−1 without an added energy source and unbuffered. Azospirillum lipferum, Enterobacter agglomerans, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and a Pseudomonas sp. were the acetylene-reducing organisms isolated. The results demonstrate the presence of N2-fixing organisms in associative symbiosis with plant roots found in a northern climatic region in acidic soils ranging down to pH 4.0.