Abstract
A method is described for the isolation of heterocysts that are virtually free of contaminating cell debris after sonication of aerobically grown Anabaena 7120. Isolated heterocysts reduced acetylene in a light-dependent process in the absence of exogenously provided ATP; heterocysts supplied with ATP and Na2S2O4 reduced acetylene slowly in the dark but still showed a marked light activation. Nitrogenase activity was greatest in fractions containing intact heterocysts. Up to 13% of the activity of the intact filaments was accounted for in the isolated heterocyst preparation.
Isolated heterocysts took up O2 in a light-independent process; O2 uptake with added NADP+ was enhanced by pyruvate, isocitrate and intermediates of the oxidative pentose pathway.
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Peterson, R.B., Burris, R.H. Properties of heterocysts isolated with colloidal silica. Arch. Microbiol. 108, 35–40 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00425090
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00425090