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metal prints pisum sativum metal prints garden pea metal prints rhizobium leguminosarum metal prints soil bacterium metal prints root nodule metal prints nitrogen fixation metal prints ammonia metal prints symbiosis metal prints mutualism metal prints fertiliser metal prints nitrogen fertiliser metal prints chemical industry metal prints sem metal prints scanning electron micrograph metal prints

photographs pisum sativum photos garden pea photos rhizobium leguminosarum photos soil bacterium photos root nodule photos nitrogen fixation photos ammonia photos symbiosis photos mutualism photos fertiliser photos nitrogen fertiliser photos chemical industry photos sem photos scanning electron micrograph photos

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Scanning electron micrograph of a section of root nodule of a garden pea, Pisum sativum. Two cell types are visible, about 40 microns in size. The pink cells contain a network of membranes filled with bacteroids of Rhizobium leguminosarum. The green cells with cross walls act as a sponge that extends to the outer surface of the nodule, allowing air from the surrounding soil to reach the cells containing the bacteroids. The bacteroids, using a haem protein - leghaemoglobin - fix the atmospheric nitrogen to produce ammonium salts. This is an example of mutualism, or symbiosis. The bacterium gains a sequestered environment and products of photosynthesis from the plant, and the plant uses the fixed nitrogen for its growth. Globally, nitrogen fixation by micro-organisms produces about three times more fertiliser" - 150-200m tonnes/yr - than the entire world chemical industry."

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