About Microbial Agricultural Applications

 

When microbials are used in agriculture, they can generally be classified into three main categories of use: 

 

1. Ammonifying (or putrefying)

2. Nitrifying

3. Nitrogen fixing

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Ammonifying bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis, break down dead animal and plant tissues, decomposing their organic compounds into ammonium compounds.

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Nitrifying bacteria are categorized into two sub-categories:

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• AOBs (ammonia-oxidizing bacteria), and

• NOBs (nitrate-oxidizing bacteria)

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AOBs (Nitrosomonas and Nitrosococcus) oxidize the ammonium compounds from the process started by the ammonifying (putrefying) bacteria into nitrites.

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NOBs (Nitrobacter and Nitrococcus) oxidize the nitrites, created by the AOBs, into nitrates.

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In the end, the combination of ammonifying bacteria and nitrifying bacteria increase the amount of nitrogenous compounds in the soil and act as a fertilizer.

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Finally, nitrogen fixing bacteria (such as Azotobacter, Clostridium, and Rhizobium) fix the atmospheric nitrogen in the soil. These bacteria help enable plants to grow in soil where no nitrogenous fertilizers are present.

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