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Asymbiotic nitrogen fixation

  • Chapter
Book cover Der Stickstoffumsatz / Nitrogen Metabolism

Abstract

Priority of discovery in science has always been difficult to assess, and the field of asymbiotic nitrogen fixation is no exception. Although most textbooks confidently state that Winogradsky discovered the first free-living microorganism able to use molecular nitrogen, others had paved the way for this noteworthy finding. As early as 1862 Jodin (Stephenson 1949)1 had noted that a vigorous growth of “mycoderms” occurred in a solution containing only minerals and a source of carbon. Even more remarkable, he established an actual loss of N2 from the atmosphere—an analytical precaution neglected by many a subsequent investigator. Berthelot in 1885 demonstrated by chemical analysis a rise in the nitrogen content of soil enclosed in pots. In his initial memoir published in 1895 (Winogradsky 1949) as well as in his Avant-Propos to the subject written in 1945, Winogradsky specifically rejects Berthelot’s claims of priority of discovery insofar as bacteria are concerned. He stated that Berthelot did not even establish definitely that a living agent was responsible, and if living, that bacteria were the responsible organisms (Winogradsky 1949, p. 356ff.). A comparable situation exists in the field of symbiotic nitrogen fixation in that Atwater in the U.S.A. anticipated the results of Hellriegel and Wilfarth but not their unequivocal interpretation (see Wilson 1940, p. 35). One certainty remains: the first pure culture of bacteria to fix nitrogen was isolated, described and named by Winogradsky Clostridium pastorianum; to the end he apparently preferred his original spelling of the species name rather than the modern alteration.

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Wisconsin, 212-A Bacteriology Building, Madison 6, Wisconsin, USA

    Ethel K. Allen (Collaborator in Bacteriology) & O. N. Allen (Professor of Bacteriology) (Collaborator in Bacteriology) &  (Professor of Bacteriology)

  2. Institut für Kulturpflanzenforschung, Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Gatersleben (Krs. Aschersleben), Deutschland

    Ilse Böttger

  3. Institut für Zellforschung und Genetik, Medizinisches Nobelinstitut, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Schweden

    Torbjörn Caspersson

  4. l’Ecole Nationale de Médecine et de Pharmacie de Rouen, 42, rue Henri Barbusse, Paris V, Frankreich

    Georges Dillemann (Maître de Conférences) (Maître de Conférences)

  5. Staatsinstitut für allgemeine Botanik, Hamburg 36, Jungiusstraße 6, Deutschland

    Horst Engel

  6. Botanisches Institut der Universität, Bonn, Meckenheimer Allee 170, Deutschland

    Hermann Fischer

  7. 37 Wettsteinallee, Basel, Schweiz

    Markus Guggenheim

  8. University College, London, Great Britain

    Paul Haas (Formerly Reader in Plant Biochemistry) (Formerly Reader in Plant Biochemistry)

  9. Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

    Felix Haurowitz (Professor of Chemistry) (Professor of Chemistry)

  10. Department of Chemistry, Oregon State College, Corvallis, Oregon, USA

    W. D. Loomis (Assistant Professor) (Assistant Professor)

  11. Staatsinstitut für Allgemeine Botanik, Hamburg 36, Jungiusstraße 6, Deutschland

    Ernst Manshard (Abteilungsvorsteher) (Abteilungsvorsteher)

  12. Plant Physiology Unit, Department of Botany, University of Sydney, N. S. W., Australia

    H. S. McKee (Senior Research Officer) (Senior Research Officer)

  13. Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Great Britain

    Kenneth McQuellen M. A., Ph. D. (University lecturer in Biochemistry) (University lecturer in Biochemistry)

  14. Staatsinstituts für Allgemeine Botanik und des Botanischen Gartens, Hamburg 36, Jungiusstraße 6, Deutschland

    Walter Mevius (ordentl. Professor der Universität und Direktor) (ordentl. Professor der Universität und Direktor)

  15. Kiel, Gutenbergstraße 76 II, Deutschland

    Otto Moritz

  16. Halle/Saale, Am Kirchtor 1, Deutschland

    Kurt Mothes

  17. Forschungsabteilung, AB Kabi, Stockholm 30, Schweden

    Niels Nielsen

  18. Department of Botany, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South-Africa

    Niilo Rautanen (Lecturer in Biochemistry) (Lecturer in Biochemistry)

  19. Institut für Kulturpflanzenforschung, Gatersleben (Krs. Aschersleben), Deutschland

    Anneliese Romeike

  20. Agrikulturchemischen und Bodenkundlichen Institutes der Universität, Göttingen, Nikolausberger Weg 7, Deutschland

    F. Scheffer (Direktor) (Direktor)

  21. Instituts für Pflanzenernährung und Bodenkunde, Universität Halle, Halle/Saale, Sophienstraße 17, Deutschland

    Karl Schmalfuss (Direktor) (Direktor)

  22. Max-Planck-Institut für Virusforschung, Tübingen, Melanchthonstraße 36, Deutschland

    Gerhard Schramm

  23. Institut für Kulturpflanzenforschung Gatersleben, Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Gatersleben (Kreis Aschersleben), Deutschland

    Hans-Botho Schröter

  24. Department of Agricultural Botany, School of Agriculture, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, Great Britain

    D. E. G. Sheat

  25. Division of Plant Industry, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, Australia

    Donald Spencer (Senior Research Officer) (Senior Research Officer)

  26. University College of Swansea, Swansea, Wales, Great Britain

    H. E. Street D. Sc. (London) (Professor of Botany) (Professor of Botany)

  27. Department of Agric. Biochemistry, Biochem-Virus Building, University of California, Berkeley 4, California, USA

    P. K. Stumpf (Professor of Plant Biochemistry) (Professor of Plant Biochemistry)

  28. Instituts für Ernährung Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Deutschen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, Potsdam-Rehbrücke, In den Gehren 20, Deutschland

    Kurt Täufel (1. Direktor) (1. Direktor)

  29. King’s College, Newcastle upon Tyne, Great Britain

    Meirion Thomas (Professor of Botany) (Professor of Botany)

  30. Institut für Organische Chemie, Technischen Hochschule, München, Arcisstraße 21, Deutschland

    Ernst Waldschmidt-Leitz

  31. Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, Great Britain

    S. G. Waley

  32. Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 6, Wisconsin, USA

    P. W. Wilson (Professor of Bacteriology) (Professor of Bacteriology)

  33. Department of Botany, University of Bristol, Bristol 8, Great Britain

    E. W. Yemm

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Wilson, P.W. (1958). Asymbiotic nitrogen fixation. In: Allen, E.K., et al. Der Stickstoffumsatz / Nitrogen Metabolism. Handbuch der Pflanzenphysiologie / Encyclopedia of Plant Physiology, vol 8. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-94733-9_3

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