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Nitrogen fixation activity of a filamentous, nonheterocystous cyanobacterium in the presence and absence of exogenous, organic substrates

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Abstract

Nitrogen-starved cells of the filamentous, nonheterocystous cyanobacterium, Plectonema boryanum 581, were cultured microaerophilically in the presence and absence of exogenous, organic substrates (fructose, glucose, sucrose, and CO2) to determine the effect of an external carbon source on nitrogenase activity. In unsupplemented and in fructose-, glucose-, and sucrose-enriched cultures, nitrogenase activity was detected 75 min after the exclusion of oxygen, compared to 90 min for the CO2-supplemented cultures. Nitrogenase activity increased for more than 40 h at levels unique to each carbon-supplemented and unsupplemented culture. The relationship between nitrogenase activity, carbon source, and glycogen content is discussed.

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Smoker, J.A., Barnum, S.R. Nitrogen fixation activity of a filamentous, nonheterocystous cyanobacterium in the presence and absence of exogenous, organic substrates. Arch. Microbiol. 153, 417–421 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00248420

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