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Articles

Adaptation of Nitrogen Fixation by Intact Soybean Nodules to Altered Rhizosphere pO₂¹

^a Central Research and Development Department, Experimental Station, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Inc., Wilmington, Delaware 19898

The N₂-fixing legume nodule requires O₂ for ATP production; however, the O₂ sensitivity of nitrogenase dictates a requirement for a low pO₂ inside the nodule. The effects of long term exposures to various pO₂s on N₂[C₂H₂] fixation were evaluated with intact soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr., var. Wye) plants. Continuous exposure of their rhizosphere to a pO₂ of 0.06 atmospheres initially reduced nitrogenase activity by 37 to 45% with restoration of original activity in 4 to 24 hours and with no further change in tests up to 95 hours; continuous exposure to 0.02 atmosphere of O₂ initially reduced nitrogenase activity 72%, with only partial recovery by 95 hours. Similar exposures to a pO₂ of 0.32 atmospheres had little effect on N₂[C₂H₂] fixation; a pO₂ of 0.89 atmospheres initially reduced nitrogenase activity by 98% with restoration to only 14 to 24% of that of the ambient O₂ controls by 95 hours. Re-exposure to ambient pO₂ of plants adapted to nonambient pO₂s reduced N₂[C₂H₂] fixation to similar magnitudes as the reductions which occurred upon initial exposure to variant pO₂ conditions, and a time period was required to readapt to ambient O₂. It is concluded that the N₂[C₂H₂]-fixing system of intact soybean plants is able to adapt to a wide range of external pO₂s as probably occur in soil. We postulate that this occurs through an undefined mechanism which enables the nodule to maintain an internal pO₂ optimal for nitrogenase activity.