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. 1983 Jun;72(2):469–473. doi: 10.1104/pp.72.2.469

Alfalfa Root Nodule Carbon Dioxide Fixation 1,2

I. Association with Nitrogen Fixation and Incorporation into Amino Acids

Carroll P Vance 1,2, Susan Stade 1,2, Carl A Maxwell 1,2
PMCID: PMC1066257  PMID: 16663026

Abstract

In vivo CO2 fixation activity and in vitro phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity were demonstrated in effective and ineffective nodules of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and in the nodules of four other legume species. Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity was greatly reduced in nodules from both host and bacterially conditioned ineffective alfalfa nodules as compared to effective alfalfa nodules.

Forage harvest and nitrate application reduced both in vivo and in vitro CO2 fixation activity. By day 11, forage harvest resulted in a 42% decline in in vitro nodule phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity while treatment with either 40 or 80 kilograms nitrogen per hectare reduced activity by 65%. In vitro specific activity of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and glutamate synthase were positively correlated with each other and both were positively correlated with acetylene reduction activity.

The distribution of radioactivity in the nodules of control plants (unharvested, 0 kilograms nitrogen per hectare) averaged 73% into the organic acid and 27% into the amino acid fraction. In nodules from harvested plants treated with nitrate, near equal distribution of radioactivity was observed in the organic acid (52%) and amino acid (48%) fractions by day 8. Recovery to control distribution occurred only in those nodules whose in vitro phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity recovered.

The results demonstrate that CO2 fixation is correlated with nitrogen fixation in alfalfa nodules. The maximum rate of CO2 fixation for attached and detached alfalfa nodules at low CO2 concentrations (0.13-0.38% CO2) were 18.3 and 4.9 nanomoles per hour per milligram dry weight, respectively. Nodule CO2 fixation was estimated to provide 25% of the carbon required for assimilation of symbiotically fixed nitrogen in alfalfa.

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Selected References

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

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