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Plant Physiology 58:119-126 (1976) © 1976 American Society of Plant Biologists Azolla-Anabaena azollae RelationshipIV. Photosynthetically Driven, Nitrogenase-catalyzed H2 Production 1,2a Charles F. Kettering Research Laboratory, Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387
The water fern, Azolla caroliniana Willd., containing the symbiotic, heterocystous blue-green alga, Anabaena azollae, has been studied under various growth conditions to characterize its light-dependent production of H2. The response of H2 production to N2 and C2H2 and the absence of a differential effect of m-chlorocarbonyl cyanide phenylhydrazone on H2 production and C2H2 reduction, coupled with the parallel inhibition of both processes by DCMU imply that the production of H2 is nitrogenase-catalyzed and ATP-dependent. H2 was produced by fronds grown under air-CO2 in the presence or absence of combined nitrogen. When cultured under argon-O2-CO2, only those fronds provided with combined nitrogen remained viable and produced H2. Fronds grown on nitrate under air plus 2% CO also produced H2. In comparison to fronds grown on N2 alone, fronds grown on nitrate had an increased rate of H2 production relative to C2H2 reduction, and the inhibition of H2 production by air was less. CO in argon ± CO2 resulted in a partial inhibition of H2 production, whereas CO in argon-CO2-C2H2 enhanced H2 production in fronds grown without combined nitrogen. Our studies strongly indicate that H2 production is nitrogenase-catalyzed but the possibility that the symbiont contains a hydrogenase cannot be totally excluded.
1 This work was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant BMS 74-11679 to G. A. P. 2 Contribution No. 557 from Charles F. Kettering Research Foundation.
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