Review

. 2023 Dec;28(12):1391-1405.

doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2023.05.009. Epub 2023 Jun 1.

Harnessing biological nitrogen fixation in plant leaves

Yong-Guan Zhu¹, Jingjing Peng², Cai Chen³, Chao Xiong⁴, Shule Li³, Anhui Ge⁵, Ertao Wang⁵, Werner Liesack⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China; Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China. Electronic address: ygzhu@rcees.ac.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Nutrient Use and Management, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, National Academy of Agriculture Green Development, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China.
⁴ College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
⁵ National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, SIBS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200032, China.
⁶ Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, 35043, Germany.

PMID: 37270352
DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2023.05.009

Review

Harnessing biological nitrogen fixation in plant leaves

Yong-Guan Zhu et al. Trends Plant Sci. 2023 Dec.

. 2023 Dec;28(12):1391-1405.

doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2023.05.009. Epub 2023 Jun 1.

Authors

Yong-Guan Zhu¹, Jingjing Peng², Cai Chen³, Chao Xiong⁴, Shule Li³, Anhui Ge⁵, Ertao Wang⁵, Werner Liesack⁶

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China; Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China. Electronic address: ygzhu@rcees.ac.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Nutrient Use and Management, College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, National Academy of Agriculture Green Development, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xiamen, 361021, China.
⁴ College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.
⁵ National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, SIBS, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200032, China.
⁶ Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, 35043, Germany.

PMID: 37270352
DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2023.05.009

Abstract

The importance of biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) in securing food production for the growing world population with minimal environmental cost has been increasingly acknowledged. Leaf surfaces are one of the biggest microbial habitats on Earth, harboring diverse free-living N₂-fixers. These microbes inhabit the epiphytic and endophytic phyllosphere and contribute significantly to plant N supply and growth. Here, we summarize the contribution of phyllosphere-BNF to global N cycling, evaluate the diversity of leaf-associated N₂-fixers across plant hosts and ecosystems, illustrate the ecological adaptation of N₂-fixers to the phyllosphere, and identify the environmental factors driving BNF. Finally, we discuss potential BNF engineering strategies to improve the nitrogen uptake in plant leaves and thus sustainable food production.

Keywords: diazotrophs; methylotrophy; microbiome; nifH; nitrogen fixation; phyllosphere.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests No interests are declared.

Cited by

Biocontrol agents transform the stability and functional characteristics of the grape phyllosphere microenvironment.
He T, Yang M, Du H, Du R, He Y, Wang S, Deng W, Liu Y, He X, Zhu Y, Zhu S, Du F. He T, et al. Front Plant Sci. 2024 Oct 16;15:1439776. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2024.1439776. eCollection 2024. Front Plant Sci. 2024. PMID: 39479547 Free PMC article.
Geographic Location Affects the Bacterial Community Composition and Diversity More than Species Identity for Tropical Tree Species.
Ji K, Wei Y, Lan G. Ji K, et al. Plants (Basel). 2024 Jun 5;13(11):1565. doi: 10.3390/plants13111565. Plants (Basel). 2024. PMID: 38891373 Free PMC article.
Comparative analysis of the microbiomes of strawberry wild species Fragaria nilgerrensis and cultivated variety Akihime using amplicon-based next-generation sequencing.
Wang Z, Dai Q, Su D, Zhang Z, Tian Y, Tong J, Chen S, Yan C, Yang J, Cui X. Wang Z, et al. Front Microbiol. 2024 May 30;15:1377782. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1377782. eCollection 2024. Front Microbiol. 2024. PMID: 38873161 Free PMC article.
Estuarine mangrove niches select cultivable heterotrophic diazotrophs with diverse metabolic potentials-a prospective cross-dialog for functional diazotrophy.
Mondal S, Biswas B, Chowdhury R, Sengupta R, Mandal A, Kotal HN, Giri CK, Ghosh A, Saha S, Begam MM, Mukherjee C, Das I, Basak SK, Mitra Ghosh M, Ray K. Mondal S, et al. Front Microbiol. 2024 May 24;15:1324188. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1324188. eCollection 2024. Front Microbiol. 2024. PMID: 38873137 Free PMC article.
Fast Bacterial Succession Associated with the Decomposition of Larix gmelinii Litter in Wudalianchi Volcano.
Xie L, Cheng J, Cao H, Yang F, Jiang M, Li M, Huang Q. Xie L, et al. Microorganisms. 2024 May 7;12(5):948. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms12050948. Microorganisms. 2024. PMID: 38792778 Free PMC article.

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

Actions
Actions

MeSH terms

Actions
Actions
Actions
Actions

Substances

Actions

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources
- Elsevier Science

Save citation to file

Email citation

Add to Collections

Add to My Bibliography

Your saved search

Create a file for external citation management software

Your RSS Feed

Harnessing biological nitrogen fixation in plant leaves

Affiliations

Harnessing biological nitrogen fixation in plant leaves

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Related information

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources