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. 1986 Jun;81(2):430–433. doi: 10.1104/pp.81.2.430

Essentiality of Boron for Dinitrogen Fixation in Anabaena sp. PCC 7119

P Mateo 1, I Bonilla 1, E Fernández-Valiente 1, E Sanchez-Maeso 1
PMCID: PMC1075352  PMID: 16664833

Abstract

The relationship between the requirement for boron and the form of N supplied in nutrient media to cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7119 was investigated. When cells were grown in a medium which contained nitrate or ammonium-N, boron deficiency in the nutrient media did not inhibit growth or change cell composition. However, when cells were dependent on N2 fixation, the lack of boron inhibited growth (i.e. growth ceased after 96 hours under these conditions). Additionally, boron-deficient cells showed a significant decrease in their content of phycobiliproteins and chlorophyll and accumulated carbohydrates within 24 hours of removing boron from the nutrient media. Inhibition of photosynthetic O2 evolution accompanied the decrease in photosynthetic pigments. Boron deficiency symptoms were relieved when either boron or combined N was added to boron-deficient cultures. The degree of recovery depended upon the age of the cultures. Assays of nitrogenase activity showed that, after 2 hours of growth, nitrogenase activity of boron-deficient cells was inhibited by 40%. After 24 hours a total inactivation of nitrogenase activity was observed in boron-deficient cells. These results strongly suggest an involvement of boron in N2 fixation in cyanobacteria.

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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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