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Background

Nitrogen fixation is a process in which nitrogen in the atmosphere is converted into ammonium (NH4+).No matter natural and synthetic, the process is essential for all forms of life because nitrogen is required to biosynthesize basic building blocks of plants, animals and other life forms, like nucleotides and amino acids.

All biological nitrogen fixation is done by way of nitrogenase, a metal-enzymes which contain iron, molybdenum, or vanadium. The enzyme is composed of the heterotetrameric MoFe protein that is transiently associated with the homodimeric Fe protein. Therefore, Molybdenum is an indispensable chemical element to nitrogen fixation and agriculture.

According to the Liebig's law of the minimum, which states that growth is controlled not by the total amount of resources available, but by the scarcest resource, molybdenum as a trace mineral, is identified as limiting the growth of peanuts in large field of China. So molybdenum powder is commonly used as a fertilizer in agriculture. And our project aims to establish an E.Coli strain that is able to capture Mo in the medium, directional deliver itself to root system and kill itself eventually.

The Story of E.coli Prometheus

BNU-China