Abstract
Five strains of heterocystous blue-green algae capable of high rates of growth and nitrogenase activity were isolated from shallow coastal environments. Growth of the organisms was characterized with respect to temperature, NaCl concentration in the medium, and nitrogen source. The temperature optima ranged from 35–42°C, and all but one of the strains displayed a requirement for added NaCl. The generation times under N2-fixing conditions were 5.1–5.9 h, and were as low as 3.4 h for growth on NH4Cl. Nitrogenase activity (C2H2 reduction) was high throughout the logarithmic growth phase of each strain. The maximum value observed for one strain was 65.5 nmoles C2H4 produced/mg protein x min, and the average values for the five strains ranged from 24.5–46.7 nmoles C2H4/mg protein x min. The organisms all belong to the genusAnabaena. The growth and nitrogenase activity of these strains are much higher than those of the heterocystous blue-green algae commonly used for investigation of nitrogen metabolism, and they thus should prove to be useful physiological tools. Their prevalence, as judged by the ease of their enrichment and isolation, in bay and estuarine environments suggests that they are important contributors of combined nitrogen.
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Gotto, J.W., Tabita, F.R. & Van Baalen, C. Isolation and characterization of rapidly-growing, marine, nitrogen-fixing strains of blue-green algae. Arch. Microbiol. 121, 155–159 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00689980
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00689980