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Effects of Light and Temperature on the Association between Zea mays and Spirillum lipoferum¹

^a Department of Biochemistry, Center for Studies of N₂ Fixation, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706

Zea mays was grown on a low N nutrient solution under 16 conditions of light and temperature in a crossed-gradient room in an attempt to determine whether or not variation in climatic conditions influences N₂ fixation by the association between maize and Spirillum lipoferum. Temperatures were 28, 32, 36, and 40 C and 10 C lower at night; light intensities were 500, 1,250, 2,400, and 3,000 ft-c. Plants harvested after 94 days showed no significant benefit from association with S. lipoferum either in dry weight production or in total N content; variations in temperature and light had only a small influence on N₂ fixation under the conditions tested. Measurements of total N, together with designated assumptions, indicated that less than the equivalent of 0.5 kilogram of N was fixed/hectare during the entire growing period by the maize-S. lipoferum association. Rates of C₂H₂ reduction by replicate root samples generally were low and variable and did not correlate with the measurements of total N.