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Fructose uptake and influence on growth of and nitrogen fixation by Anabaena variabilis.

Fructose is specifically taken up by nitrogen-fixing cultures of Anabaena variabilis in the light and lowers the doubling time from 24 to 8 h. The kinetics for both fructose-dependent growth and fructose uptake are exponential. The apparent Km for fructose uptake in N2-fixing cultures is 160 microM for cells not previously exposed to fructose and 50 microM in cells adapted to fructose. Picomolar amounts of [14C]fructose are scavenged from the medium and accumulate in filaments. Heterocysts of fructose-adapted filaments accumulate 14C from fructose within 20 min. Short-term experiments with fructose-starved cultures provide evidence that nitrogenase activity, protein, and chlorophyll content change within one generation time upon addition of fructose. In long-term experiments, the amount of fructose initially present in the medium determines heterocyst number and packed-cell volume. Photosynthetic oxygen evolution and amounts of chlorophyll decrease with exogenous fructose concentrations greater than 20 mM.

Biological Transport↗

Quantification of the contribution of biological nitrogen fixation to tropical green manure crops and the residual benefit to a subsequent maize crop using 15N-isotope techniques.

In this study the contribution of biological N2 fixation (BNF) to leguminous green manures was quantified in the field at different sites with different 15N methodologies. In the first experiment, conducted on a Terra Roxa soil in Cuba, the BNF contribution to three legumes (Crotalaria juncea, Mucuna aterrima and Canavalia ensiformis) was quantified by applying 15N-labelled ammonium sulphate to the soil. The second experiment was planted in a very low fertility sandy soil near Rio de Janeiro, and the 15N natural abundance technique was applied to quantify BNF in C. juncea, M. niveum and soybean. In both studies the advantages of using several non-N2-fixing reference plants was apparent and despite the much greater accumulation of the C. juncea in the experiment performed on the fertile soil of Cuba, the above ground contributions of BNF at both sites were similar (40-80 kg N x ha(-1)) and greater than for the other legumes. In a further experiment the possible contribution of root-derived N to the soil/plant system of two of the legumes was quantified using a 15N-leaf-labelling technique performed in pots. The results of this study suggested that total below-ground N could constitute as much as 39 to 49% of the total N accumulated by the legume crops.

Biochemistry↗

[Effect of inoculation on nitrogen fixation by chick pea, on its crop and protein content].

Active strains of Rh. cicer were found to increase the crop of chick pea by 25--36%, the content of protein by 2--6%, and the content of total nitrogen in the roots by 1.7--2%. Symbiotic fixation of nitrogen determined by a technique of "inoculation" varies within 40--60% depending on the activity of the strain. No correlation has been established between the effectiveness of the strains of nodule bacteria and the activity of their enzymes--dehydrogenases.

Nitrogen Fixation↗

NifH and NifD phylogenies: an evolutionary basis for understanding nitrogen fixation capabilities of methanotrophic bacteria.

The ability to utilize dinitrogen as a nitrogen source is an important phenotypic trait in most currently known methanotrophic bacteria (MB). This trait is especially important for acidophilic MB, which inhabit acidic oligotrophic environments, highly depleted in available nitrogen compounds. Phylogenetically, acidophilic MB are most closely related to heterotrophic dinitrogen-fixing bacteria of the genus BEIJERINCKIA: To further explore the phylogenetic linkage between these metabolically different organisms, the sequences of nifH and nifD gene fragments from acidophilic MB of the genera Methylocella and Methylocapsa, and from representatives of Beijerinckia, were determined. For reference, nifH and nifD sequences were also obtained from some type II MB of the alphaproteobacterial Methylosinus/Methylocystis group and from gammaproteobacterial type I MB. The trees constructed for the inferred amino acid sequences of nifH and nifD were highly congruent. The phylogenetic relationships among MB in the NifH and NifD trees also agreed well with the corresponding 16S rRNA-based phylogeny, except for two distinctive features. First, different methods used for phylogenetic analysis grouped the NifH and NifD sequences of strains of the gammaproteobacterial MB Methylococcus capsulatus within a clade mainly characterized by Alphaproteobacteria, including acidophilic MB and type II MB of the Methylosinus/Methylocystis group. From this and other genomic data from Methylococcus capsulatus Bath, it is proposed that an ancient event of lateral gene transfer was responsible for this aberrant branching. Second, the identity values of NifH and NifD sequences between Methylocapsa acidiphila B2 and representatives of Beijerinckia were clearly higher (98.5 and 96.6 %, respectively) than would be expected from their 16S rRNA-based relationships. Possibly, these two bacteria originated from a common acidophilic dinitrogen-fixing ancestor, and were subject to similar evolutionary pressure with regard to nitrogen acquisition. This interpretation is corroborated by the observation that, in contrast to most other diazotrophs, M. acidiphila B2 and Beijerinckia spp. are capable of active growth on nitrogen-free media under fully aerobic conditions.

Bacterial Proteins↗