Abstract
The central position of oxygen in the control of the nitrogenase activity in both symbiotic and asymbiotic diazotrophs is now well established (Robson and Postgate 1980, Witty et al. 1986). While considerable attention has been given to growing and assaying asymbiotic organisms at a variety of O2 levels and testing for adaptation and response, relatively few experiments have been directed at altering the gas phase of nodulated plants. The early experiments of McConnell (1959) and Crisswell et al. (1976) on alder and soybean, respectively, showed that both groups of plants, when grown with root systems at various pO2 levels, could adapt their growth and nitrogenase activity to a wide range of ambient O2. The mechanisms behind this adaptation were not elucidated, although Crisswell et al. (1976) did include a change in nodule cortical diffusion resistance among their speculations.
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© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht
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Silvester, W.B., Parsons, R., Minchin, F.R., Witty, J.F. (1989). Simple Apparatus for Growth of Nodulated Plants and for Continuous Nitrogenase Assay Under Defined Gas Phase. In: Torrey, J.G., Winship, L.J. (eds) Applications of Continuous and Steady-State Methods to Root Biology. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 34. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2237-2_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2237-2_3
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