Molybdenum is an essential component of the cofactors of many metalloenzymes including nitrate reductase and Mo-nitrogenase. The cyanobacterium Anabaena variabilis ATCC 29413 uses nitrate and atmospheric N2 as sources of nitrogen for growth. Two of the three nitrogenases in this strain are Mo-dependent enzymes, as is nitrate reductase; thus, transport of molybdate is important for growth of thi...

Soybean plants (Glycine max [L.] Merr) were grown in sand culture with 2 millimolar nitrate for 37 days and then supplied with 15 millimolar nitrate for 7 days. Control plants received 2 millimolar nitrate and 13 millimolar chloride and, after the 7-day treatment period, all plants were supplied with nil nitrate. The temporary treatment with high nitrate inhibited nitrogenase (acetylene reducti...

Hydrogenase activity of root nodules in the symbiotic association between Pisum sativum L. and Rhizobium leguminosarum was determined by incubating unexcised nodules with tritiated H(2) and measuring tissue HTO. Hydrogenase activity saturated at 0.50 millimolar H(2) and was not inhibited by the presence of 0.10 atmosphere C(2)H(2), which prevented H(2) evolution from nitrogenase. Total H(2) pro...

The study comprised tests on the effect of fungicides: Oxafun T, Funaben T and Baytan Universal on the nitrogenase activity of methylotrophic bacteria, selected from the rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil of spring barley. The obtained results indicated that the field dose of fungicides - 0.5 ppm had no effect on all the examined strains of methylotrophic bacteria. The dose of 50 ppm, however...

The effect of boron on heterocystous and nonheterocystous dinitrogen fixing Cyanobacteria was examined. The absence of boron in culture media inhibited growth and nitrogenase activity in Nodularia sp., Chlorogloeopsis sp., and Nostoc sp. cultures. Examinations of boron-deficient cultures showed changes in heterocyst morphology. However, cultures of nonheterocystous Cyanobacteria, Gloeothece sp....

Ammonium suppresses nitrogenase activity in Anabaena flos-aquae (Lyng) Breb. at all pH values tested. l-Methionine-dl-sulfoximine at 1 millimolar totally inhibited glutamine synthetase, and 10 micromolar partially inhibited. Both concentrations protected nitrogenase activity from ammonium-induced suppression at pH 7.1 and 8.1. At pH 9.3 and 10.2, methionine sulfoximine did not alleviate the sup...

A new estuarine filamentous heterocystous cyanobacterium was isolated from intertidal sediment of the Lagoa dos Patos estuary (Brazil). The isolate may represent a new genus related to Cylindrospermopsis. While the latter is planktonic, contains gas vesicles, and is toxic, the newly isolated strain is benthic and does not contain gas vesicles. It is not known whether the new strain is toxic. It...

Photoproduction of H2 and activation of H2 for CO2 reduction (photoreduction) by Rhodopseudomonas capsulata are catalyzed by different enzyme systems. Formation of H2 from organic compounds is mediated by nitrogenase and is nto inhibited by an atmosphere of 99% H2. Cells grown photoheterotrophically on C4 dicarboxylic acids (with glutamate as N source) evolve H2 from the C4 acids and also from ...

Nitrogen is the second most critical factor for crop production after water. In this study, the beneficial rhizobacterium Pseudomonas protegens Pf-5 was genetically modified to fix nitrogen using the genes encoding the nitrogenase of Pseudomonas stutzeri A1501 via the X940 cosmid. Pf-5 X940 was able to grow in L medium without nitrogen, displayed high nitrogenase activity and released significa...

Rnf proteins are proposed to form membrane-protein complexes involved in the reduction of target proteins such as the transcriptional regulator SoxR or the dinitrogenase reductase component of nitrogenase. In this work, we investigate the role of rnf genes in the nitrogen-fixing bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii. We show that A. vinelandii has two clusters of rnf-like genes: rnf1, whose expressi...