Skip to main content
Plant Physiology logoLink to Plant Physiology
. 1987 Apr;83(4):728–731. doi: 10.1104/pp.83.4.728

Frankia Vesicles Provide Inducible and Absolute Oxygen Protection for Nitrogenase 1

Richard Parsons 1,2,2, Warwick B Silvester 1,2, Sharon Harris 1,2, W T M Gruijters 1,2, S Bullivant 1,2
PMCID: PMC1056438  PMID: 16665327

Abstract

When Frankia HFPCcI3 was grown in culture at oxygen O2 levels ranging from 2 to 70 kilopascals O2, under nitrogen fixing conditions, nitrogenase activity adapted to ambient pO2 and showed a marked optimum close to growth pO2. Vesicles were thin walled at low pO2 and very thick walled at high pO2. Freeze fracture transmission electron microscopy confirmed that Frankia produces vesicles with outer walls thickened by multiple lipid-like monolayers, in proportion to ambient pO2.

Full text

PDF
730

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Kulasooriya S. A., Lang N. J., Fay P. The heterocysts of blue-green algae. 3. Differentiation and nitrogenase activity. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1972 Jun 6;181(1063):199–209. doi: 10.1098/rspb.1972.0046. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Murry M. A., Fontaine M. S., Tjepkema J. D. Oxygen protection of nitrogenase in Frankia sp. HFPArI3. Arch Microbiol. 1984 Oct;139(2-3):162–166. doi: 10.1007/BF00401993. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Murry M. A., Horne A. J., Benemann J. R. Physiological Studies of Oxygen Protection Mechanisms in the Heterocysts of Anabaena cylindrica. Appl Environ Microbiol. 1984 Mar;47(3):449–454. doi: 10.1128/aem.47.3.449-454.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Murry M. A., Zhongze Z., Torrey J. G. Effect of O2 on vesicle formation, acetylene reduction, and O2-uptake kinetics in Frankia sp. HFPCcI3 isolated from Casuarina cunninghamiana. Can J Microbiol. 1985 Sep;31(9):804–809. doi: 10.1139/m85-151. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Pienkos P. T., Bodmer S., Tabita F. R. Oxygen inactivation and recovery of nitrogenase activity in cyanobacteria. J Bacteriol. 1983 Jan;153(1):182–190. doi: 10.1128/jb.153.1.182-190.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Robson R. L., Postgate J. R. Oxygen and hydrogen in biological nitrogen fixation. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1980;34:183–207. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.34.100180.001151. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Plant Physiology are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES