Introductory Remarks at the Overview Session

Abstract

It is a pleasure to chair this overview session of the 9th International Congress on Nitrogen Fixation. We are indeed grateful for the efforts of Professor Palacios and associates for organizing this meeting at a beautiful and historically important part of the Western Hemisphere. Several senior scientists with us today not only have participated in most of the eight previous congresses but also were among the small groups that met together in remote places in the early 1960’s and discussed many subjects including: discovery of new N₂ fixing bacteria, alternate substrates for nitrogenase, the first identifiable product of nitrogen fixation, the properties and kinds of reactions catalyzed by nitrogenase components and the role of metals such as molybdenum and cobalt in the biology of N₂ fixing organisms. All this was taking place before it was possible to apply the powerful tools of molecular genetics toward a better understanding of the biology of free living and symbiotic nitrogen fixation.