Abstract
Under diurnal 16/8-h light-dark cycles, ethyleneglycol-bis-(β-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid (EGTA) at 1 mM completely blocked the appearance of rhythmic N2-fixing activity in Synechococcus RF-1. Ca2+ at 2 mM, when supplied either together with or several hours after the EGTA application, restored the nitrogenase activity, whereas, when Ca2+ was supplied several hours later, the peak of nitrogenase activity was shifted from the dark to the light period in which the activity is normally suppressed. Sr2+ also reversed the inhibition by EGTA, but only partially. When O2 in the gas phase above the culture was below 1%, the inhibition of nitrogenase activity by EGTA was reduced to less than 20% of the control value without EGTA. Thus Ca2+ appears to be required by the cell to protect its nitrogenase from inactivation by O2. In media without EGTA, a close correlation between nitrogenase activity and concentrations of Ca2+ was also observed.
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Abbreviations
- EGTA:
-
ethyleneglycol-bis-(β-aminoethyl ether)-N,N,N′,N′-tetraacetic acid
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Chen, TH., Huang, TC. & Chow, TJ. Calcium requirement in nitrogen fixation in the cyanobacterium Synechococcus RF-1. Planta 173, 253–256 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00403017
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00403017