Plants are unable to metabolise atmospheric nitrogen it requires conversion into ammoniai

Plants are unable to metabolise atmospheric nitrogen it requires conversion into ammoniai. This process, known as biological nitrogen fixation, is carried out by a specialized group of biological nano-machines. Nitrogen content of soils is a key factor regarding soil fertility and productivity. At the start of the last century, the only solid natural forms of nitrogen to enrich the soil were Peruvian guano and Chilean nitrate.ii In 1913, the Haber-Bosch process changed the course of the 20thcentury allowing mass production of ammonia. Ammonia production is the base of agriculture in 2015, supporting between a 3rd and half of human food intake; despite technical improvements it still requires both high temperature (400-600 C), high pressure (20-40 MPa) that consume more than 1% of world-wideenergy production and produces greenhouse gases. Also, use of ammonia fertilizers has led to worldwide ecological problems: water eutrophication and alteration of the nitrogen atmospheric balance. Recent work indicated that molybdenum and tungsten enzymes are incredibly ancient, and their enzymatic role and functionality has been preserved. iii It is thought that in the reducing environment of the primordial world Tungsten-enzymes were favored. In those days, oxygen atom transfer reactions were more challenging than in the modern world, with a preference for molybdenum-enzymes. ivThe use of soluble metal catalysts offers direct routes to other functionalized organonitrogen molecules and provides further insight into the heterogeneous Haber-Bosch catalyst or the low-energy nitrogenase enzymes that directly make ammonia. vBy deepening our understanding of the microbial populations that cycle nitrogen, we can find opportunities to deliver more efficient bioengineering solutions. To date, no one has systematically explored the new biotechnologies for nitrogen removal that can emerge from this new knowledge because a purely empirical exploration would require significant investigation. This, however, could be accelerated using a cost-effective advanced modelling approach, as the one detailed in this proposal. To explore the functionalization of molecular dinitrogen and its catalytic conversion of molecular dinitrogen we will need to combine expertise in: a) inorganic chemistryby exploring the catalytic conversiond-block metals; b) computational chemistryby describing the reaction pathway and finding the reaction intermediates; c) metabolic modelingto describe the metabolic activities and synergies between microbial populations in the nitrogen-cycle, identifying the process conditions that generate efficient aggregates architectures for nitrogen-removal.iVitousek P. M., et alD. Ecol. Appl. 1997,7, 737-750.iiClark, B, Foster, J. B. Int. J. Comp. Soc.2009, 50,311-334.iiiSchoepp-Cothenet B., et alSci. Rep. 2012, 2, 263. ivPushie J. M., Cotelesagea J. J., George G. N., Metallomics2014, 6, 15-24.vKnobloch, D. J., Lobkovsky, E. & Chirik, P. J. Nat. Chem. 2, 30-35 (2010).