The plants require the mineral called nitrogen for building the molecules in it such as proteins and nucleotides. The nitrogen that is present in the air cannot be directly used by the plants. Some plants develop a symbiotic relationship with the bacteria living in the root nodules of these plants. They have the ability to fix the atmospheric nitrogen into the nitrogenous form, which can be utilized by the plants. These bacteria mostly live in the plant roots of leguminous plants. These bacteria manage to have symbiosis with the plant and live in their roots.
The Mycorrhizal bacteria make use of a procedure to convert the molecular nitrogen in the atmosphere to the plant usable forms like nitrate, nitrite and ammonia. The conversion is done with the help of an enzyme called Nitrogenase. Some Mycorrhizal bacteria make use of some other pathway to convert molecular nitrogen to plant usable form. These bacteria are freely existing soil bacteria called Nitrobacter.
The fungi that are known as Mycorrhizal fungi help the plants to enhance the surface area of the root and absorb more minerals and nutrients. The absorption of root is also enhanced by the presence of root hairs.
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