Hydrogen Reactions of Nodulated Leguminous Plants: II. Effects on Dry Matter Accumulation and Nitrogen Fixation.

The interaction between the ATP-dependent evolution of H(2) catalyzed by nitrogenase and the oxidation of H(2) via a hydrogenase has been postulated to influence the efficiency of the N(2)-fixing process in nodulated legumes. A comparative study using soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) cv. Anoka inoculated with either Rhizobium japonicum strain USDA 31 or USDA 110 and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) cv. Whippoorwill inoculated with Rhizobium strain 176A27 or 176A28 cultured on a N-free medium was conducted to address this question. Nodules from the Anoka cultivar inoculated with USDA 31 evolved H(2) in air and the H(2) produced accounted for about 30% of the energy transferred to the nitrogenase system during the period of active N(2) fixation. In contrast the same soybean cultivar inoculated with USDA 110 produced nodules with an active hydrogenase and consequently did not evolve H(2) in air. A comparison of Anoka soybeans inoculated with the two different strains of R. japonicum showed that mean rates of C(2)H(2) reduction and O(2) consumption and mean mass of nodules taken at four times during vegetative growth were not significantly different.When compared to Anoka inoculated with USDA 31, the same cultivar inoculated with USDA 110 showed increases in total dry matter, per cent nitrogen, and total N(2) fixed of 24, 7, and 31%, respectively. Cowpeas in symbiosis with the hydrogenase-producing strain 176A28 in comparison with the same cultivar inoculated with the H(2)-evolving strain 176A27 produced increases in plant dry weight and total N(2) fixed of 11 and 15%, respectively. This apparent increase in the efficiency of N(2) fixation for nodulated legumes capable of reutilizing the H(2) evolved from nitrogenase is considered and it is concluded that provision of conclusive evidence of the role of the H(2)-recycling process in N(2)-fixing efficiency of legumes will require comparison of Rhizobium strains that are genetically identical with the exception of the presence of hydrogenase.