Morphological and structural adaptation of nodules of cowpea to functioning under sub- and supra-ambient oxygen pressure.

Nodules of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp. cv. Vita 3:Bradyrhizobium CB 756) from 28-d-old plants cultured for 23 d with their root systems maintained in O2 levels from 1 to 80% (v/v, in N2) in the external gas phase showed a range of structural changes which have been interpreted in relation to an over- or under-supply of O2. A response to the partial pressure of O2 in the gas phase (pO2) was noted with respect to nodule size, lenticel development, the relative distributions of cortical and infected central tissue, the differentiation of cortex, especially the inner cortex, the frequency and size of infected and uninfected interstitial cells, the volume of extracellular spaces both in cortex and infected tissue, and in the frequency of bacteroids. As a consequence of these changes the surface area of inner cortex relative to the nitrogenase-containing units of fixing tissue (infected cells or bacteroids) was increased by as much as 20-fold. Effectiveness of bacteroid functioning increased from 0.10 ± 0.02 · 10(-9) μmol acetylene reduced per bacteroid in air-grown nodules to 0.9 ± 0.16 · 10(-9) (same units) per bacteroid in those cultured in 1% O2.