[Recent advances in research and application of associated nitrogen-fixation with graminaceous plants]

The category, characteristic of diazotrophs isolated from inside and/or rhizosphere of graminaceous plants in recent year and the mechanism of the promoting effects on their host plant were reviewed in this paper. The current status of application of associative nitrogen-fixation inoculants and the problems in inoculation were discussed. It was indicated that the main factors influencing the effects of inoculants include the competition of indigenous micro-organism with inoculants for nutritions and energy, difference of host plant genotypes in associative relationship, and variance of environmental conditions such as the concentration of ammonium in soil solution and the oxygen partial pressure in soil air. The trends of future research in this field were prospected, for example, to isolate and identify the high nitrogen fixing efficiency strains with wider environmental adaptability, to create associative nitrogen fixing bacteria strain which is able to bear or endure higher concentration of ammonium by gene engineering technique, to induce graminaceous plant forming root nodule for nitrogen fixation and to exert the predominance of endophytic diazotrophs.