Quantification of biological nitrogen fixation by Mo-independent complementary nitrogenases in environmental samples with low nitrogen fixation activity.

ABSTRACT: Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) by canonical molybdenum and complementary vanadium and iron-only nitrogenase isoforms is the primary natural source of newly fixed nitrogen. Understanding controls on global nitrogen cycling requires knowledge of the isoform responsible for environmental BNF. The isotopic acetylene reduction assay (ISARA), which measures carbon stable isotope (¹³C/¹²C) fractionation between ethylene and acetylene in acetylene reduction assays, is one of the few methods that can quantify isoform-specific BNF fluxes. Application of classical ISARA has been challenging because environmental BNF activity is often too low to generate sufficient ethylene for isotopic analyses. Here we describe a high sensitivity method to measure ethylene δ¹³C b

SUBMITTER: Haynes SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9768154 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature