PHYSIOLOGY OF NITROGEN FIXATION BY AEROBACTER AEROGENES

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Abstract
A medium contain a soluble buffer (in place of CaCO3) was devised for studying the growth of A. aerogenes using free and combined N. Turbidity was used to estimate growth. Nitrogenase, the enzyme concerned specifically with N-fixation in this organism, apparently is adaptive since a detectable lag is observed when a culture is changed from growth on ammonium N to fixation of No-Hydrogen is a specific and apparently competitive inhibitor of N-fixation by this organism, an inhibition previously established for aerobic agents such as Azotobacter spp. and for symbiotic systems of root nodule bacteria and leguminous plants. Previous investigations with anaerobic agents (Clostridium spp. and the photosynthetic bacteria) indicated that H2 may not inhibit this type of fixation. Under the conditions of our experiments, gaseous oxygen was a specific inhibitor, fixation of N2 oc-curring only anaerobically.

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