One of the holy grails of crop production research is to support biological nitrogen fixation in non-leguminous crops. According to researchers at the Washington University in St. Louis science got one step closer to this goal. The researchers have worked out the structure of a protein called NolR that acts as a master off-switch for the nodulation process. By building an accurate atomic model of the protein, they were able to “see” exactly how it recognizes and slots itself into genes to prevent bacteria from embarking on a life as a symbiont. Findings are published in the April 29 issue… Login to continue

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