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Nitrogen fixation and pyruvate metabolism in cell-free preparations of Anabaena cylindrica

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Summary

  1. 1.

    N2 fixation in cell-free preparations of Anabaena cylindrica was stimulated by added pyruvate.

  2. 2.

    A relationship between cell-free N2 fixation and decarboxylation of pyruvate was demonstrated by an almost identical response of the two processes to varying concentrations of added pyruvate.

  3. 3.

    Pyruvate decarboxylation was stimulated under N2-fixing conditions.

  4. 4.

    Decarboxylation of pyruvate was found to proceed most vigorously on particles which were most active in N2 fixation.

  5. 5.

    Whereas in intact cells N2 fixation was increased appreciably in the presence of CO2 in the light but decreased in the dark, in cell-free preparations N2 fixation was inhibited in the presence of CO2 in the light as well as in the dark.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, The University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Rosalie M. Cox & P. Fay

  2. Department of Botany Westfield College, University of London, London, UK

    Rosalie M. Cox & P. Fay

Authors
  1. Rosalie M. Cox
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  2. P. Fay
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Cox, R.M., Fay, P. Nitrogen fixation and pyruvate metabolism in cell-free preparations of Anabaena cylindrica . Archiv. Mikrobiol. 58, 357–365 (1967). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00409742

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00409742

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