Drive down Wisconsin’s county roads on a crisp fall day and you’ll see farmers maneuvering combines across their fields, harvesting bushels upon bushels of corn. Farmers help ensure a bountiful harvest by applying fertilizers that provide crops with vital nutrients. One such nutrient, nitrogen, makes individual plants stronger and improves crop yields. Until the mid-1900s, …
nitrogen fixation
Biochemistry’s part in the nitrogen fixation studies
Biochemistry scientists are in good company among the many CALS researchers who have worked to harness the power of plants to fix nitrogen in the soil. Biochemistry’s Bob Burris, Paul Ludden, Vinod Shah, and Ophelia Venturelli are among those who have contributed to our understanding of nitrogen-fixation, a process of tremendous importance for increasing the …