The investigations described in this paper are an attempt to further define and quantify the interrelationship of nitrogen fixation and iron nutritional physiology in these two species. Chapter II will present and compare data on nutritional ratios of field collected Trichodesmium colonies and laboratory Anabaena cultures, with the intent of examining possible correlations between observed iron levels and protein nitrogen and chlorophyll concentrations, as well as nitrogen fixation rates. Chapter Ill is an examination of nitrogen fixation and siderophore production in Anabaena with emphasis on the possible implications of hypothesized synergistic effects of these two physiological capabilities on cyanobacterial dominance and bloom formation. Chapter IV will deal with the possibility of gratuitous manganese repression of Anabaena siderophore production in the manner described by Hantke (1987) for regulation of siderophore production in E. coli. The Conclusions chapter (Chapter V) will present a discussion of the results of these experiments in the context of current problems in cyanobacterial physiology, ecology and evolution. It is hoped that a significant contribution can be made to our understanding of the related problems of cyanobacterial dominance in freshwater ecosysytems and the scarcity of cyanobacterial nitrogen fixation in marine ecosystems.

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) has become an important bioenergy crop. Warm, winter temperatures in the southeastern USA allow for fall establishment and winter growth of cool-season legumes that may provide nitrogen to the spring perenniating crop of switchgrass. Data indicates variation due to year and location, but hairy vetch plots provided a greater nitrogen percentage in the subsequent biomass production of switchgrass. In 2011, switchgrass fertilized with 56 kg ha-1 N was greater than the control and in 2012 it was greater than the 28 kg ha-1 N treatment. Variation around the means prevented clear separation among other treatments. The data also showed that hairy vetch had the greatest volunteer frequency and cover percentage throughout the year. Data from the Dairy Farm showed no differences in yields due to a lack of field management the previous years and only ball clover increased its coverage over time.

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No description available.

No description available.

The Mo-nitrogenase complex is composed of two components, Fe-protein and MoFe-protein. This complex is able to catalyze the reduction of N2 through the MgATP dependent transfer of electrons from the Fe-protein Fe4S4 cluster to the MoFe-protein P-cluster and, subsequently, to the iron-molybdenum cofactor (FeMoco). FeMo-co is a Fe7S9MoC-(R)-homocitrate cluster and has two biosynthetic precursors, NifB-co and L-cluster, of unknown structure and composition. The biosynthesis of FeMo-co is an enigmatic process that minimally requires NifB, NifEN, Fe-protein, MoO4 2- , (R)-homocitrate and S-adenolsylmethionine. A means to isolate the NifB enzyme for characterization has been developed through use of a GST-fusion tag. Double recombination of A. vinelandii strains with a constructed vector has yielded strains capable of nif promoter regulated expression of GST-NifB. Extracts of strains containing GST-NifB were shown to activate the Monitrogenase complex in biochemical complementation assays. Mass spectroscopy was then used to verify successful isolation of GST-NifB by GSH-Sepharose affinity purification. The number of NifB-co ligand binding sites and ligand types were examined by EXAFS analysis of samples containing selenol and thiol ligands. A Fe6S9C model for NifB-co was optimized to best fit the EXAFS data, where a 2-fold discrepancy in binding sites implied by thiol or selenol only ligand samples suggests Fe-(μ2S)-Fe binding in the absence of Se. Samples containing heterogeneous ligand types indicated that NifX bound NifB-co ligates to four cysteine residues and one molecule of DTT.

The onset of solvent production by the clostridia involves regulation at the transcriptional level. The signal triggering the onset has not been identified, but redox and energetic states have been suggested as possible factors. Because several solvent-producing clostridia, including Clostridium acetobutylicum and Clostridium beijerinckii, are nitrogen-fixing organisms and both nitrogen-fixation and alcohol production (n-butanol, isopropanol and ethanol) are reductant-dependent processes, the effect of nitrogen fixation on the onset and progression of solvent production in C. beijerinckii NRRL B593 and vice versa was investigated. For this purpose, a defined growth medium containing three amino acids was developed for C. beijerinckii NRRL B593, and this medium was used for growing solvent-producing and nitrogen-fixing cultures. The nitrogen-fixing cultures produced solvents with a solventogenic shift, which appeared to coincide with a decrease in nitrogen-fixing activity. Measurement of specific activities of acetoacetate decarboxylase and aldehyde dehydrogenase and Northern blot analysis of the mRNA of the solvent-producing genes in samples harvested periodically from a nitrogen-fixing culture of C. beijerinckii showed the presence of both enzyme activities and the mRNA carrying the solvent-production genes throughout incubation. A 2.5-fold increase in the specific activity of acetoacetate decarboxylase and a 4.5-fold increase in the specific activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase were observed when the activities in the latest cell-free extract was compared with the activities in the earliest cell-free extract. When C. beijerinckii was grown in the medium containing 4 mM ammonium acetate, the onset of nitrogen fixation coincided with the onset of solvent production and prevented accumulation of solvents to high levels, which suggested competition between alcohol-producing enzymes and nitrogenase for the reductant. Recently, a 20-kb region of the genomic DNA of C. beijerinckii NRRL B593 that contained the nif genes and ORFs with other putative functions was sequenced in our laboratory. An examination of the nif clusters of C. beijerinckii, C. acetobutylicum and C. pasteurianum revealed apparent differences in the intervening ORFs which suggested differences in the regulation of nitrogen fixation in these organisms. Transcriptional analysis of genes in the nif cluster of C. beijerinckii by Northern blotting revealed four different transcripts. The absence of mRNAs of the nif-associated ORFs in RNA samples isolated from non-nitrogen-fixing cells indicated that the nif-associated ORFs are regulated in parallel to the nif genes. By studying the effect of ammonia addition on nitrogen-fixing activities of C. beijerinckii and C. pasteurianum, significant differences in the regulation of nitrogen-fixation in the two species were observed. C. beijerinckii NRRL B593, but not C. pasteurianum, showed a rapid decrease in nitrogen-fixing activity in vivo upon ammonium acetate addition. However, measurement of nitrogen-fixing activities in vitro before and after ammonium acetate addition showed the presence of active nitrogenase throughout growth in both organisms. The results suggest that the nitrogenase activity in C. beijerinckii NRRL B593 is inhibited when ammonia is available. A second nifH-hybridizing mRNA was detected in Northern blots during studies of the expression of nifH1 in C. pasteurianum. The mRNA was identified as that from either the nifH2 or nifH6 gene after sequencing the cDNA strands, which were generated by RT (Reverse Transcriptase)-PCR. In addition, Western blot analysis of the cell-free extracts of nitrogen-fixing cells of C. pasteurianum indicated the presence of a second NifH-related polypeptide. The two NifH-related polypeptides were separated by preparative gel electrophoresis and characterized by MALDI-TOF (Matrix-assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Time-Of-Flight) mass spectrometry. The results suggested the expression of NifH2/H6 protein in nitrogen-fixing cells of C. pasteurianum. The physiological significance of the expression of the nifH2 or nifH6 gene or both is yet to be determined. / Ph. D.

Plants have many nitrate transporters; in the model legume Medicago truncatula, MtNPF1.7 is among them. MtNPF1.7 is important for M. truncatula growth and it has been established that MtNPF1.7 is a high affinity nitrate transporter. M. truncatula plants with mutations in MtNPF1.7 gene show defects during plants growth, with striking abnormalities in nodule development and root architecture. Nitrogen fixation is an energy expensive process; when legumes have sufficient bioavailable nitrogen like nitrate available, it suppresses nodulation and nitrogen fixation. Previous preliminary results in our lab showed that plants constitutively expressing MtNPF1.7 have a growth phenotype in the absence of nitrate, but no data was available on how M. truncatula plants constitutively expressing MtNPF1.7 are affected by the presence of nitrate. For my research, I confirmed the preliminary results on the growth of M. truncatula plants overexpressing NPF1.7 and examined these plants' phenotypes when nitrate was not provided in the growth media and when it was provided at two different concentrations. Compared with wild type A17, plants constitutively expressing MtNPF1.7 gene grow larger, have more lateral roots and more nodules when grown in the absence of nitrate and when 0.2 mM KNO3 was provided. At 1 mM KNO3, there are fewer differences between wild type A17 and plants constitutively expressing the MtNPF1.7 gene. Compared with wild type A17, plants constitutively expressing the MtNPF1.7 gene flower earlier, which indicates MtNPF1.7 gene may have a function in plant flowering.

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No description available.