Establishment of an Association Between N2- Fixing Endophitic Bacteria and Zea mays

Nitrogen is the most important nutrient input required for crop production. In modern agriculture the replenishment of soil nitrogen most commonly involves application of chemical fertilizers, an approach that suffers from several serious drawbacks, including high costs and severe negative anvironmental impacts. These considerations have stimulated research on alternative such as biological nitrogen. In this work we will discuss some recent results from experiments designed to establish the process of simbiotic endophitic nitrogen fixation in plants such as Zea mays for the development of more productive and sustainable agricultural system.