Nitrogen fixation and hydrogen metabolism by Rhizobium leguminosarum isolates in pea root nodules

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Abstract
A survey of 108 isolates of Rhizobium leguminosarum was conducted to determine the variation in H2 uptake and relative efficiency of N2 fixation in Pisum sativum L. root nodules and the relation of relative efficiency to plant dry weight and N content. Only 14 of the isolates exhibited significant uptake hydrogenase activity and none of these had sufficient hydrogenase activity to recycle all of the H2 produced by nitrogenase. In 74 of the isolates tested relative efficiencies of N2 fixation were less than 0.60.Twenty-nine of the isolates were ineffective, since total plant N at harvest did not differ significantly from uninoculated controls. The remaining 79 effective isolates could be divided into low-and high-efficiency groups. Plants which were inoculated with isolates from the two groups and harvested after 4 weeks did not differ significantly in plant dry weight or N content. Among the isolates with high relative efficiency of N2 fixation, two groups could be recognized: one possessing significant uptake hydrogenase activity, the other lacking hydrogenase activity but in which H2 evolution was low. Although the two groups did not differ with respect to plant dry weight or N content, the identification of this latter group may be of some significance for optimizing the efficiency of N2 fixation.

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