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Plant nutrition is the study of the chemical elements and compounds necessary for plant growth and reproduction, plant metabolism and their external supply. In its absence the plant is unable to complete a normal life cycle, or that the element is part of some essential plant constituent or metabolite .
Nitrogen is the most critical element obtained by plants from the soil, to the exception of moist tropical forests where phosphorus is the limiting soil nutrient, [36] and nitrogen deficiency often limits plant growth. [37] Plants can use nitrogen as either the ammonium cation (NH 4 +) or the anion nitrate (NO 3 −).
Nitrogen is a fundamental nutrient in agriculture, playing a crucial role in plant growth and development. It is an essential component of proteins, enzymes , chlorophyll , and nucleic acids , all of which are essential for various metabolic processes within plants. [ 2 ]
Nitrogen assimilation is the formation of organic nitrogen compounds like amino acids from inorganic nitrogen compounds present in the environment. Organisms like plants, fungi and certain bacteria that can fix nitrogen gas (N 2) depend on the ability to assimilate nitrate or ammonia for their needs. Other organisms, like animals, depend ...
Nitrogen must first be processed, or "fixed", into a plant-usable form, usually ammonia. Some nitrogen fixation is done by lightning strikes producing the nitrogen oxides, but most is done by diazotrophic bacteria through enzymes known as nitrogenases (although today industrial nitrogen fixation to ammonia is also significant). When the ammonia ...
Plants that contribute to nitrogen fixation include those of the legume family—Fabaceae— with taxa such as kudzu, clover, soybean, alfalfa, lupin, peanut and rooibos. [45] They contain symbiotic rhizobia bacteria within nodules in their root systems, producing nitrogen compounds that help the plant to grow and compete with other plants. [58]
Nitrogen is the most commonly limiting nutrient in plants. Legumes use nitrogen fixing bacteria, specifically symbiotic rhizobia bacteria, within their root nodules to counter the limitation. Rhizobia bacteria convert nitrogen gas (N 2) to ammonia (NH 3) in a process called nitrogen fixation.
Although nitrogen makes up most of the atmosphere, it is in a form that is unavailable to plants. Nitrogen is the most important fertilizer since nitrogen is present in proteins (amide bonds between amino acids), DNA (puric and pyrimidic bases), and other components (e.g., tetrapyrrolic heme in chlorophyll). To be nutritious to plants, nitrogen ...