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The phyllosphere

III. Nitrogen fixation in the phyllosphere

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Summary

Measurements of the amounts of anthrone- and ninhydrin-positive substances occurring in rain-water and dew on plants in Surinam have been made, as well as of the possible nitrogen gains and losses in the dew.

Nitrogen fixation in detached leaves in association with an autochthonous phyllosphere population and in those enriched withAzotobacter sp.,Beijerinckia sp., orPseudomonas sp. are compared.

Dry weight and total nitrogen increases of single leaves, or part of leaves, of Coffea, Gossypium, and Phaseolus floated on a nitrogen-free medium in petri dishes were determined at intervals of a few days and compared with a control at the start of the experiment.

Gains in total nitrogen amounting to 20 to 105 per cent over the control were measured within two weeks. The increases were found in the leaves as well as in the culture medium and were dependent on the age of the leaf, on the light, and on the temperature. The energy substrates for bacterial nitrogen fixation were obviously furnished by the leaf, which increased in size and up to 200 per cent in dry weight.

In the limited space of the petri dish the cultural conditions for active nitrogen fixation quickly deteriorated by the accumulation of metabolic products from both the leaf and the microvegetation. Heterotrophs and predatory protozoa eventually dominated the initial population. Earlier gains were then partly lost.

The consequences of the biocoenosis of leaves and microbes for the vegetation are discussed.

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Ruinen, J. The phyllosphere. Plant Soil 22, 375–394 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01422435

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01422435

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