Acetylene-induced decline in acetylene reduction by nodulated roots of alfalfa

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Abstract
Seedlings of three cultivars of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) were nodulated with two strains of rhizobia (Rhizobium meliloti) and grown with zero N nutrients at 25:20 °C for 6 weeks followed by growth at 10:7 °C for 2 weeks. Acetylene-reducing activity (ARA) was retarded by 10% acetylene to an extent dependent on time, cultivar, strain, and growth temperature. In the usual short term assay for nitrogenase by ARA, the inhibition was not sufficient to explain decreased apparent efficiency of nitrogenase in plants moved to the lower temperature. Inhibition of ARA was associated with correspondingly decreased respiration in cv. Drylander, but in cv. Apollo respiration was not affected. The differential loss of ARA relative to respiratory activity in a day of continuous treatment with 10% acetylene was very distinct and requires an explanation other than altered nodule resistance to diffusion of oxygen.