While synthetic nitrogen fuels modern agriculture, its production is energy-intensive, and its application leads to aquatic pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Sustainable intensification of agriculture to provide both food for humans and feedstocks for bio-based fuels and materials requires alternative options for nitrogen management. For nearly fifty years, nitrogen fixation in cereal crops has been pursued to address this challenge. Efforts to engineer plants for nitrogen fixation have made strides through eukaryotic nitrogenase expression and a deepened understanding of root nodulation pathways, but deployment of transgenic nitrogen fixing cereals may be outpaced by population growth. By contrast, a root-associated bacterium that can fix and supply nitrogen to cereals could offer a sustainable solution for nitrogen management on a shorter timescale.

中文翻译：

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利用大气氮来生产谷类作物。

合成氮为现代农业提供燃料时，其生产消耗大量能源，其应用导致水生污染和温室气体排放。可持续集约化农业以提供人类食物以及生物基燃料和材料的原料，需要氮管理的替代选择。近五十年来，一直致力于在谷物作物中固氮以应对这一挑战。通过真核固氮酶表达和对根瘤形成途径的加深了解，为植物固氮技术的努力取得了长足进步，但是转基因固氮谷物的部署可能会因人口增长而赶超。相比之下，