Yunxia Chen , Xinhua Zhou

Tropical Legume Research Center, Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572025, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
Molecular Microbiology Research, 2024, Vol. 14, No. 2   
Received: 07 Mar., 2024    Accepted: 16 Apr., 2024    Published: 28 Apr., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation, facilitated by rhizobia, plays a crucial role in enhancing legume growth and soil fertility. This symbiotic relationship has evolved to allow rhizobia to fix atmospheric nitrogen into a form usable by plants, significantly impacting agricultural productivity and ecological sustainability. This study summarizes the current understanding of the mechanisms, effectiveness, and ecological implications of rhizobia-legume symbiosis in nitrogen fixation. The study found that the effectiveness of nitrogen fixation varies significantly among different rhizobial strains, with some strains demonstrating high efficiency under specific conditions. The interaction between plant nitrogen demand and symbiotic efficiency is tightly regulated by systemic signaling pathways. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species play a dual role in both promoting and regulating the symbiotic process. Environmental factors such as soil nitrate levels and herbivory also influence the allocation of fixed nitrogen in legumes. The rapid evolution of rhizobial strains through lateral gene transfer may lead to the emergence of competitive but less efficient nitrogen-fixing strains. Understanding the complexity and adaptability of the rhizobia-legume symbiosis can inform strategies to enhance nitrogen fixation efficiency, thereby improving legume growth and soil fertility. Future research should focus on unraveling the specific regulatory mechanisms and environmental interactions that optimize this symbiotic relationship.

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation; Rhizobia; Legumes; Soil fertility; Molecular mechanisms; Ecological impact