The legume-rhizobial symbiosis results in the formation of root nodules that provide an ecological niche for nitrogen-fixing bacteria. However, plant-bacteria genotypic interactions can lead to wide variation in nitrogen fixation efficiency, and it is not uncommon that a bacterial strain forms functional (Fix+) nodules on one plant genotype but nonfunctional (Fix-) nodules on another. Host gene...

In a comparative visual search experiment, two halves of a display contained visual primitives of various shapes and colors. These halves were identical (50% of trials) or contained a non-matching pair (50% of trials). Response time (RT), accuracy, and eye movements were measured in both young and older adults. There were Age Group x Display Size interactions found for RT, with older adult RT a...

Carboxysomes are central to the carbon dioxide-concentrating mechanism (CCM) and carbon fixation in cyanobacteria. Although the structure is well understood, roles of environmental cues in the synthesis, positioning, and functional tuning of carboxysomes have not been systematically studied. Fremyella diplosiphon is a model cyanobacterium for assessing impacts of environmental light cues on pho...

Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues represent an important source of archival materials for gene expression profiling. We report here the development of a modified branch DNA assay that allows direct quantification of messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts in homogenates from FFPE tissue sections without the need for RNA isolation and reverse transcription into cDNA. Formalin fixation es...

The response of pea (Pisum sativum cv. Avola) to arbuscular micorrizal fungi (AM) species Glomus mosseae and Glomus intraradices and Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. Viciae, strain D293 regarding growth, nodulation and nitrogen fixing activity was studied. Pea plants (Pisum sativum cv. Avola) were grown in a glasshouse until flowering stage (35 days) in 4 kg plastic pots using leached cinnamonic for...

Dihydrogen, a by-product of biological nitrogen fixation, is a competitive inhibitor of N(2) reduction by nitrogenase. To evaluate the significance of H(2) inhibition in vivo, we have measured the apparent inhibition constant for H(2) inhibition of N(2) reduction in Bradyrhizobium japonicum bacteroids isolated from soybean nodules. The rate of N(2) reduction was measured as ammonia production b...

Photocatalytic nitrogen fixation from air directly under sunlight can contribute significantly to carbon neutralization. It is an ideal pathway replace the industrial Haber Bosch process in future. A Fe-doped layered WO$_3$ photocatalyst containing oxygen vacancies was developed which fix at atmospheric pressure. The iron doping enhances transport efficiency of photogenerated electrons. photoca...