Introduction of the Course

Nitrogen is  the most important nutrient required by plants, being an essential component of all amino acids and nucleic acids.  Atmosphere consists of 78% nitrogen gas (N2) but plants are unable to use this form of nitrogen. Biological nitrogen fixation is one alternative to nitrogen fertilizer. It is carried out by prokaryotes using an enzyme complex called nitrogenase and results in atmospheric N2 being reduced into a form of nitrogen diazotrophic organisms and plants are able to use (ammonia). This course is to teach students the scope and mechanism of biological nitrogen fixation. It will cover all aspects of BNF including the factors which enhance and limits this universal process. This course focuses the importance of legumes crop in nitrogen fixing.

Objective

The aim of the course is to teach students the scope and mechanism of biological nitrogen fixation. It will cover all aspects of BNF including the factors which enhance and limits this universal process. This course will enable students to learn and practically perform seed inoculation and observe its functioning

Theory

1. Importance of nitrogen
2. Nitrogen cycle; Assimilation of nitrate and ammonium ions;
3. Nitrogen fixation; Biological nitrogen fixation, its potentialities, perspectives and limitations
4. BNF in a symbiotic and non-symbiotic association in legumes and non-legumes, stages in nodulation
5.  Nitrogenase: structure and function
6.  Mechanism and biochemistry of BNF
7.  Gaseous exchange in nodules
8.  Role of leghemoglobin
9.  Effect of environment on  nitrogen fixation
10.  Stem nodules
11.  Prospects for making new symbiosis
12.  Physiological limitations and genetic improvements of biological nitrogen fixation
13.  Possibilities of engineering non- legume plants for nitrogen fixation

Practical

• Preparation of quality inoculums.
• Legume inoculent and inoculation techniques.
• Soil and seed inoculation methods.
• Methods of measuring nitrogen fixation.
• Study of different types of nodules

Outcomes

1. Understand the symbiotic and asymbiotic relationships between plants and microorganisms useful for BNF.
2. Learn the mechanism of biological nitrogen fixation.
3.  Recognize edaphic, climatic and biotic factors limiting biological nitrogen fixation.
4. Estimate BNF by two simple methods.
5.  Implement major approaches to enhance biological nitrogen fixation.

Assesment

Quizzes and test:                                 02

Attendance:                                        02

Assignments and presentations:          04

Mid-term:                                            12

End term:                                            20

Practical:                                             20

Books Recommended

1. John L.H., J.D. Beaton, S.L. Tisdale, and W.L. Nelson. 2010. Soil Fertility and Fertilizers-An introduction to nutrient management, 7th edition. Pearson Prentice Hall, New Delhi, India.
2. Ross, C.W. and F.B. Salisburry. 2011. Plant Physiology 5th Ed., Wadsworth Publ. Co., Belmont, California, USA.
3. Ohyama, T., 2014. Advances in Biology and Ecology of Nitrogen Fixation Publisher: In Tech, Chapters published January 29, 2014 under CC BY 3.0 license.
4. Taize, L. and E. Zeiger. 2002. Plant Physiology 3rd ed. Sinauers Associate, Inc. Sunderland, Massachusetts, USA.
5. Yi- Peng W., M. Lee, T. Zhe- Xian, W.E. Newton. Eds. 2005. Biological Nitrogen Fixation, sustainable agriculture and the environment. Proc. 14th Int. Congress Biological Nitrogen Fixation. Springer, Netherlands.
6. Flores, F.G. 2008. The cyanobacteria: molecular biology, genomics, and evolution. A. Herrero (Ed.). Horizon Scientific Press.

   Week	Topics and Readings	Book with Page No.
   1	Introduction about the course
   	Importance of nitrogen	Soil Science Page 261-262
   2	Nitrogen cycle	Soil Science Page 268-269
   	Assimilation of nitrate ion	Soil Science Page 269-271
   3	Assimilation of ammonium ion	Soil Science Page 269-271
   	Nitrogen fixation	Soil Science Page 263-267
   4	Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF)	Nitrogen fixation at the millennium Pages 223-225
   	Potentialities of BNF
   5	Perspectives and limitations of BNF	Principles and applications of soil microbiology Pages 295-302
   	BNF in symbiotic and non-symbiotic association in legumes	Plant physiology by Taiz and Ziger Pages 266-268
   6	BNF in symbiotic and non-symbiotic association in non-legumes	Plant physiology by Taiz and Ziger Pages 266-268
   	Stages in nodulation	Plant physiology by Taiz and Ziger Pages 270
   7	Nitrogenase structure	Nitrogen fixation at the millennium Pages 35-39
   	Nitrogenase function
   8	Mechanism of BNF	Nitrogen fixation at the millennium Page 12-13
   	Biochemistry of BNF	Plant Physiology Pages 252-254
   9	Mid exam
   10	Gaseous exchange in nodules	Plant physiology by Taiz and Ziger Pages 269-270
   	Role of leghemoglobin	Plant physiology by Taiz and Ziger Pages 269-270
   11	Effect of environment on nitrogen fixation	Principles and applications of soil microbiology, Pages 332-336
   	Effect of Temperature on nitrogen fixation	Nitrogen fixation at the millennium Pages 393
   12	Effect of nutrients on nitrogen fixation	Nitrogen fixation at the millennium Pages 395
   	Effect of pH on nitrogen fixation	Nitrogen fixation at the millennium Pages 395
   13	Legume inoculent and inoculation techniques.	Innovative biological techniques for lesser developed countries Pages164-169
   	Discussion	-
   14	Stem nodules	Biotechnology of Biofertilizers Pages 180-181
   	Prospect for making new symbiosis	Nitrogen fixation at the millennium Page 4
   15	Physiological limitations	Innovative biological techniques for lesser developed countries Pages173-177
   	Genetic improvement of BNF	Biological Nitrogen Fixation and Sustainability of Tropical Agriculture Pages 211-215
   16	Possibilities of engineering non-legume plants for nitrogen fixation	Biological Nitrogen Fixation: Recent Developments Pages 113-121
   	Possibilities of engineering non-legume plants for nitrogen fixation	Biological Nitrogen Fixation: Recent Developments Pages 113-121
   17	Class presentation	-
   	Class presentation	-
   18	Final exam	-

Time Table

Tuesday 8:50

Wednesday 12:10

Thursday 9:40

KEY DATES

Mid test : March 9-13, 2020

Final Examination:  May 4-8, 2020

Result Declaration May 19, 2020