A team of scientists from Michigan State University has discovered a new and unusual source of nitrogen fixation, the process that converts the nitrogen in the atmosphere into a form that is used by all life on Earth.

In a paper published in the June 29 issue of the journal Science, MSU microbiologist John Breznak and colleagues report that spirochetes - corkscrew-shaped bacteria that are found practically everywhere but are particularly abundant in termite guts - are "fixers" of nitrogen. Once fixed by microbes such as spirochetes, the nitrogen ultimately becomes available to plants and animals.

Nitrogen makes up about 80 percent of the air humans breathe. However, only certain microbes are able to convert that nitrogen gas - that is, fix it - into a form that can be used to make proteins and other cell materials.

"Every living thing on Earth needs nitrogen," said Breznak, MSU distinguished professor of microbiology and molecular genetics. "The question is, where do we get it from?"

Nitrogen fixation occurs in certain plants, Breznak said, particularly in the root nodules of certain legumes. However, this only occurs because of the presence of specific microbes in those nodules.

It had been known for many years that nitrogen fixation took place within termites and could provide up to 60 percent of the nitrogen needs of the insects. But the particular microbes performing the fixation were in question.

Recently, termite gut spirochetes were isolated by Breznak's group and grown in the laboratory, where they were shown to contain the genes for nitrogen fixation and also carry out the process.

"Spirochetes are a large group of bacteria in which nitrogen fixation had never been recognized before," Breznak said.

This is not only good news for termites, whose food is very low in nitrogen, but for the rest of the world as well. Despite their reputation as destructive pests, termites occupy an impor
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Contact: Tom Oswald
oswald@msu.edu
517-355-2281
Michigan State University
28-Jun-2001