Characterization of a bacterium of the genus Azospirillum from cellulolytic nitrogen-fixing mixed cultures

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Abstract
A bacterium with the taxonomic characteristics of the genus Azospirillum was isolated from cellulolytic N2-fixing mixed cultures. Its characteristics fit the descriptions of both A. lipoferum (Beijerinck) and A. brasilense. It may be a variant strain of A. lipoferum. In mixed cultures with cellulolytic organisms, the bacterium grew and fixed N2 with cellulose as a sole source of energy and C. The mixed cultures used cellulose from leaves of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), corn (Zea mays L.), and big bluestem grass (Andropogon gerardii Vitm). Microaerophilic N2-fixing bacteria of the genus Azospirillum, such as the isolated bacterium, may be important contributors of fixed N2 in soil with partial anaerobiosis and cellulose decomposition.