Diazotroph

Diazotrophs are bacteria and archaea that fix atmospheric nitrogen (N2) in the atmosphere into bioavailable forms such as ammonia.

A diazotroph is a microorganism that is able to grow without external sources of fixed nitrogen. Examples of organisms that do this are rhizobia and Frankia and Azospirillum. All diazotrophs contain iron-molybdenum or iron-vanadium nitrogenase systems. Two of the most studied systems are those of Klebsiella pneumoniae and Azotobacter vinelandii. These systems are studied because of their genetic tractability and their fast growth.[1]

  1. ^ Dixon R, Kahn D (August 2004). "Genetic regulation of biological nitrogen fixation". Nature Reviews. Microbiology. 2 (8): 621–31. doi:10.1038/nrmicro954. PMID 15263897. S2CID 29899253.