| Date | 1888 |
| Author | Beijerinck |
| Contribution | Reported nitrogen-fixing bacteria in legumes. |
| Reference | Anon. |
| Notes | He noted that the nodules on the roots of leguminous plants were tumors caused by local bacterial infection; and that the bacteria fix atmospheric nitrogen and make ammonium salts for the host plants. Infected plants can thus grow in the absence of ammonium or other nitrogenous salts. Lechevalier gives 1890 as the year in which Winogradsky achieved the first isolation of bacteria that transform ammonia into to nitrite and then into nitrate. |
| Category | Miscellany |
| Pathogen Class | Bacteria |
Copyright © 2007- William C. Campbell. All rights reserved.