35. Soil

The carnivorous plant Nepenthes bicalcarata ('fanged pitcher plant') has a unique relationship with a species of ant—Camponotus schmitzi ('diving ant'). The diving ants are not digested by the pitcher plants, but instead live on the plants and consume nectar. Diving ants also dive into the digestive juices in the pitcher, swim to the bottom, and capture and consume trapped insects, leaving uneaten body parts and ant feces behind. What nutritional impact do the ants have on fanged pitcher plants? Do the pitcher plants derive any nutritional benefit from this relationship?Nitrogen is a key nutrient often obtained by carnivorous plants from the insects they digest. Are the results presented here what would be expected if nitrogen is a limiting nutrient? Explain.

Which of the following organisms can fix nitrogen?

In root nodules, the plants provide __________, and the bacteria provide __________.

Legumes (members of the pea family) have roots with swellings called nodules that __________.

Which of these describes the initial interaction between Rhizobium and a soybean root?

The enzyme complex that catalyzes the conversion of atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia is __________.