The Apparent Influence of Atmospheric Oxygen Concentration on Nitrogenase Activity and Slime Production in Klebsiella pneumoniae Grown on a Solid Medium

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Abstract
K. pneumoniae strains K11 and M5a1 which differ greatly in their ability to produce slime had similar ratios of nitrogenase activity when grown on agar under atmospheres of N2, air or O2. With both strains, the rate of acetylene reduction was not significantly different when measured under air compared to N2 but was decreased under O2, which also restricted growth. Strain K11, the more slimy of the 2 strains, produced more slime, as measured viscometrically, when the atmosphere above the agar contained a greater proportion of O2 up to 50% O2. Strain M5a1 gave no detectable response to increased O2 concentration other than decreased growth and nitrogenase activity under high O2 concentration. Despite the superficial correlation between enhanced slime production and resistance to the potentially damaging effects of O2 on nitrogenase in air-grown N2-fixing Klebsiella, slime probably contributes only marginally to that resistance.

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