Open AccessDinitrogen‐fixing endogenous rhythm in Synechococcus RF‐1
Author(s) -
Grobbelaar N.,
Huang T.C.,
Lin H.Y.,
Chow T.J.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1986.tb01788.x
Subject(s) - endogeny , rhythm , nitrogenase , darkness , synechococcus , circadian rhythm , cyanobacteria , fixation (population genetics) , chemistry , biology , nitrogen fixation , biochemistry , botany , bacteria , medicine , endocrinology , genetics , gene
Under continuous illumination this unicellular aerobic cyanobacterium fixes dinitrogen continuously at a variable and usually low rate. Exposure of the culture to diurnal light/dark cycles invariably results in the virtual restriction of nitrogenase activity to the dark periods. The rhythmic diurnal dinitrogen fixation pattern becomes a truely endogenous cycle which persists for at least 4 days with decreasing magnitude on exposing the culture to continuous illumination. The free running time of the rhythm appears to decrease from an initial 26 h to 22 h in the course of 4 days. This appears to be the first record of an endogenous rhythm in a prokaryote.