Genetic regulation of biological nitrogen fixation

Some bacteria have the remarkable capacity to fix atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia under ambient conditions, a reaction only mimicked on an industrial scale by a chemical process that requires high temperatures, elevated pressure and special catalysts. The ability of microorganisms to use nitrogen gas as the sole nitrogen source and engage in symbioses with host plants confers many ecological advantages, but also incurs physiological penalties because the process is oxygen sensitive and energy dependent. Consequently, biological nitrogen fixation is highly regulated at the transcriptional level by sophisticated regulatory networks that respond to multiple environmental cues.