It's great to be back; especially since
I didn’t think I was returning, and it's even more exciting to tackle a project
which I left unfinished a couple of semesters ago. If we all casually take a
step into the TARDIS (watch your hands and feet) and travel back to the fall of
2013, I had the opportunity to isolate Rhizobia from nodules of legumes which I
planted at Phoenix College. For those of you who are not familiar with these bacteria, let me cite my own paper from that time.
Rhizobia are gram negative
bacteria found in the soil that form a symbiotic relationship with legumes by
infecting their roots and subsequently engaging in nitrogen fixation. This
process involves the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia which will
be used by the legumes to produce protein and consequently grow faster (Graham,
2001, p. 94). Sounds pretty interesting, huh?
The next step of my project was to try
and inoculate non-legumes with Rhizobia to see if that increased the rate
of germination and growth. I didn't have time to complete that part of the
project; however, do you realize the implications of being able to speed up the
life cycle of non-legumes? Well, I am sure we are many years away from collecting
enough evidence to support that these bacteria would be harmless in the
process; nevertheless, their presence in legumes does not appear to pose a
threat. Since I am not interested in the full life cycle of the plant (only germination and growth), I will be using vermiculite instead of soil.
See you around... :)
Graham, P. H. (2001).
Nitrogen fixation. In R. Robinson (Ed.), Plant sciences (Vol. 3, pp. 91-95). Farmington
Hills, MI: Gale.
Fascinating! Can't wait to watch legumes grow! (I'm not joking, I'm nerdy like that.)
ReplyDeleteAs am I Paul. You might even witness me sing to them. We can harmonize if you are a tenor...
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