Isolation of free-living dinitrogen-fixing bacteria and their activity in compost containing de-inking paper sludge

Knowledge of the microbiology of dinitrogen (N2)-fixing bacteria in compost rich in de-inking paper sludge (DPS) is limited. Dinitrogen (N2)-fixing bacteria from DPS composts were isolated and studied for their N2-fixing activity in vitro and in vivo. Two Gram-negative N2-fixing isolates were identified as Pseudomonas. At 20 °C, both isolates revealed that N2-fixing activity was higher than that of three arctic Pseudomonas strains. Their N2-fixing activity was found to occur between 18 and 25 °C, a pattern that was similar to the reference isolate Azotobacter ATCC 7486. Composts successfully showed N2-fixing activity after carbohydrate amendments both with and without inoculation of a N2-fixing isolate. These results suggest that DPS composts support N2-fixing bacteria and that N2-fixing activity is dependent on a usable carbohydrate source.