Co-cultivation of diazotrophic terrestrial cyanobacteria and .

Diazotrophic cyanobacteria are able to fix N from the atmosphere and release it as bioavailable nitrogen what other organisms can utilize. Thus, they could be used as living nitrogen supplier whereby the use of fertilizer could be reduced in agricultural industry what results in a decrease of laughing gas released during fertilizer production. The diazotroph cyanobacterium () was characterized in shake flasks cultivated in nitrogen-free and nitrogen-containing medium. Similar growth rates were reached in both cultivations and the release of ammonium by was detected under nitrogen depletion. Subsequently, was co-cultivated with () in nitrogen-free medium. Additionally, the plant was cultivated in nitrogen containing and nitrogen-free medium without as reference. A co-cultivation led to higher growth rates of the cyanobacterium and similar growth of with similar maximum photochemical efficiency of photosystem II compared to the growth of nitrogen containing medium. Further, accumulation of cyanobacterial cells around the roots of was detected, indicating a successfully induced artificial symbiosis. Based on these results, could be a promising cyanobacterium as living nitrogen supplier for plants.