Effect of oxygen pressure on synthesis and export of nitrogenous solutes by nodules of cowpea.

Nodules of cowpea plants (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. cv. Vita 3 :Bradyrhizobium CB756) cultured for periods of 23 d with their root systems maintained in atmospheres containing a range of partial pressures of O2 (pO2; 1-80%, v/v, in N2) formed and exported ureides (allantoin and allantoic acid) as the major products of fixation at all pO2 tested. In sub-ambient pO2 (1 and 2.5%) nodules contained specific activities of uricase (urate: O2 oxidoreductase; EC 1.7.3.3) and allantoinase (allantoin hydrolyase; EC 3.5.2.5) as much as sevenfold higher than in those from air. On a cell basis, uninfected cells in nodules from 1% O2 contained around five times the level of uricase. Except for NAD: glutamate synthase (EC 1.4.1.14), which was reduced in sub-ambient O2, the activities of other enzymes of ureide synthesis were relatively unaffected by pO2. Short-term effects of pO2 on assimilation of fixed nitrogen were measured in nodules of air-grown plants exposed to subambient pO2 (1, 2.5 or 5%, v/v in N2) and(15)N2. Despite a fall in total(15)N2 fixation, ureide synthesis and export was maintained at a high level except in 1% O2 where formation was halved. The data indicate that in addition to the structural and diffusional adaptations of cowpea nodules which allow the balance between O2 supply and demand to be maintained over a wide range of pO2, nodules also show evidence of biochemical adaptations which maintain and enhance normal pathways for the assimilation of fixed nitrogen.