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Three Nitrogen Fixation Systems in Azotobacter vinelandii

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The Molecular Basis of Bacterial Metabolism

Abstract

In the early 1980s we presented evidence indicating that the N2-fixing bacterium, Azotobacter vinelandii, contained at least two nitrogenase systems: the conventional Mo-containing nitrogenase (nitrogenase-1) system; and an alternative nitrogenase system expressed in the absence of Mo. This evidence primarily centered on the observation that Nif- (unable to fix N2) mutant strains underwent phenotypic reversal (i.e., Nif- to Nif+) under conditions of Mo deprivation. These reports (Bishop et al. 1980; Bishop et al. 1982; Page and Collinson 1982; Premakumar et al. 1984) were received with skepticism because they challenged the long-held belief that Mo was absolutely required for N2 fixation and that nitrogenases were essentially the same regardless of their source. The latter notion was further supported by the results of Southern blot experiments by Ruvkun and Ausubel (1980) which indicated that some of the structural genes encoding nitrogenases from diverse diazotrophic organisms were highly conserved at the nucleotide sequence level.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. North Carolina State University, Department of Microbiology and United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, 27695-7615, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

    R. Premakumar

Authors
  1. P. E. Bishop
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  2. R. D. Joerger
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  3. R. Premakumar
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. FB Biologie, Institut für Botanik, Universitätsstraße 31, W-8400, Regensburg, Germany

    Günter Hauska

  2. Laboratorium für Mikrobiologie FB Biologie, Philipps-Universität, Karl-von-Frisch-Straße, W-3500, Marburg, Germany

    Rudolf K. Thauer

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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Bishop, P.E., Joerger, R.D., Premakumar, R. (1990). Three Nitrogen Fixation Systems in Azotobacter vinelandii . In: Hauska, G., Thauer, R.K. (eds) The Molecular Basis of Bacterial Metabolism. 41. Colloquium der Gesellschaft für Biologische Chemie 5.–7. April 1990 in Mosbach/Baden, vol 41. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75969-7_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75969-7_6

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-75971-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-75969-7

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