QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Halbleib, C. M. Articles by Ludden, P. W. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Halbleib, C. M. Articles by Ludden, P. W.

---

Article

Regulation of Biological Nitrogen Fixation^{1 ,2}

Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706

³To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Biological nitrogen fixation, a process found only in some prokaryotes, is catalyzed by the nitrogenase enzyme complex. Bacteria containing nitrogenase occupy an indispensable ecological niche, supplying fixed nitrogen to the global nitrogen cycle. Due to this inceptive role in the nitrogen cycle, diazotrophs are present in virtually all ecosystems, with representatives in environments as varied as aerobic soils (e.g., Azotobacter species), the ocean surface layer (Trichodesmium) and specialized nodules in legume roots (Rhizobium). In any ecosystem, diazotrophs must respond to varied environmental conditions to regulate the tremendously taxing nitrogen fixation process. All characterized diazotrophs regulate nitrogenase at the transcriptional level. A smaller set also possesses a fast-acting post-translational regulation system. Although there is little apparent variation in the sequences and structures of nitrogenases, there appear to be almost as many nitrogenase-regulating schemes as there are nitrogen-fixing species. Herein are described the paradigms of nitrogenase function, transcriptional control and post-translational regulation, as well as the variations on these schemes, described in various nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Regulation is described on a molecular basis, focusing on the functional and structural characteristics of the proteins responsible for control of nitrogen fixation.

KEY WORDS: • nitrogen fixation • nitrogenase • ADP-ribosylation • dinitrogenase reductase ADP-ribosyltransferase • dinitrogenase reductase-activating glycohydrolase

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. R. Staples, S. Lahiri, J. Raymond, L. Von Herbulis, B. Mukhophadhyay, and R. E. Blankenship Expression and Association of Group IV Nitrogenase NifD and NifH Homologs in the Non-Nitrogen-Fixing Archaeon Methanocaldococcus jannaschii J. Bacteriol., October 15, 2007; 189(20): 7392 - 7398. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. A. Dodsworth and J. A. Leigh Regulation of nitrogenase by 2-oxoglutarate-reversible, direct binding of a PII-like nitrogen sensor protein to dinitrogenase PNAS, June 27, 2006; 103(26): 9779 - 9784. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. L. Rowe, G. L. Starnes, and P. T. Chivers Complex Transcriptional Control Links NikABCDE-Dependent Nickel Transport with Hydrogenase Expression in Escherichia coli J. Bacteriol., September 15, 2005; 187(18): 6317 - 6323. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				B. L. Reuhs, B. Relic, L. S. Forsberg, C. Marie, T. Ojanen-Reuhs, S. B. Stephens, C.-H. Wong, S. Jabbouri, and W. J. Broughton Structural Characterization of a Flavonoid-Inducible Pseudomonas aeruginosa A-Band-Like O Antigen of Rhizobium sp. Strain NGR234, Required for the Formation of Nitrogen-Fixing Nodules J. Bacteriol., September 15, 2005; 187(18): 6479 - 6487. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Cabello, M. D. Roldan, and C. Moreno-Vivian Nitrate reduction and the nitrogen cycle in archaea Microbiology, November 1, 2004; 150(11): 3527 - 3546. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Raymond, J. L. Siefert, C. R. Staples, and R. E. Blankenship The Natural History of Nitrogen Fixation Mol. Biol. Evol., March 1, 2004; 21(3): 541 - 554. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Pawlowski, K.-U. Riedel, W. Klipp, P. Dreiskemper, S. Gross, H. Bierhoff, T. Drepper, and B. Masepohl Yeast Two-Hybrid Studies on Interaction of Proteins Involved in Regulation of Nitrogen Fixation in the Phototrophic Bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus J. Bacteriol., September 1, 2003; 185(17): 5240 - 5247. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. T. Wolfe, J. Heo, J. S. Garavelli, and P. W. Ludden Hydroxylamine Reductase Activity of the Hybrid Cluster Protein from Escherichia coli J. Bacteriol., November 1, 2002; 184(21): 5898 - 5902. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. J. Lie and J. A. Leigh Regulatory Response of Methanococcus maripaludis to Alanine, an Intermediate Nitrogen Source J. Bacteriol., October 1, 2002; 184(19): 5301 - 5306. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Ehlers, R. Grabbe, K. Veit, and R. A. Schmitz Characterization of GlnK1 from Methanosarcina mazei Strain Go1: Complementation of an Escherichia coli glnK Mutant Strain by GlnK1 J. Bacteriol., February 15, 2002; 184(4): 1028 - 1040. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]