Abstract
It has been reported that certain species of free-living Rhizobium were capable of producing nitrogenase1–5, thereby demonstrating conclusively that the nif genes reside in the bacterial component of the dinitrogen-fixing symbiosis between Rhizobium and leguminous host plants. In the comparable dinitrogen-fixing symbiosis between the actinomycete Frankia and the actinorhizal woody dicotyledons that serve as nodulated host plants, the endophytic filamentous bacteria have only recently been brought into culture6–8. We report here evidence that free-living Frankia sp. grown in appropriate nutrient conditions show nitrogenase activity (acetylene reduction) associated with a distinctive morphological structure formed in effective nodules and also developed in culture.
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Tjepkema, J., Ormerod, W. & Torrey, J. Vesicle formation and acetylene reduction activity in Frankia sp. CPI1 cultured in defined nutrient media. Nature 287, 633–635 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/287633a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/287633a0
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