Nitrogen fixation molecular biology

Ramsar. 2004. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, www.ramsar.org Raymond, J., Siefert, J.L., Staples, C.R. and Blankenship, R.E. 2004. The natural history of nitrogen fixation. Molecular Biology andEvolution 21, 541-554. 

Nitrogen fixation is the process by which nitrogen is taken from its relatively inert molecular form in the atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds useful for other chemical processes. Hydrogen gas is also released during the biological nitrogen fixation process. 

The electrosynthesis of hydride complexes directly from molecular hydrogen at atmospheric pressure by reduction of Mo(II) and W(II) tertiary phosphine precursors in moderate yield has been described as also the electrosynthesis of trihydride complexes of these metals by reduction of M(IV) dihydride precursors [101,102]. Hydrogen evolution at the active site of molybdenum nitrogenases [103] is intimately linked with biological nitrogen fixation and the electrochemistry of certain well-defined mononuclear molybdenum and tungsten hydrido species has been discussed in this context [104,105]. 

Bishop, P. E., and R. D. Joerger, Genetics and molecular biology of alternative nitrogen fixation systems. Annu. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 41 109-125, 1990. 

Advances are also being made in the more complex area of the molecular biology of symbiotic nitrogen fixation.1469 Genes in Rhizobia involved in recognition, infection and nodulation have been identified, while some progress has been made with the plant genes and proteins involved in the development of root nodules. 

Delauney, A.J. Verma, D.P.S. (1988). Cloned nodulin genes for symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Plant Molecular Biology Report 6,279-85. 

Witty, J.F., Minchin, F.R., Skot, L. Sheeky, J.E. (1986). Nitrogen fixation and oxygen in legume root nodules. In Oxford Surveys of Plant Molecular and Cell Biology, Vol. 3, ed. B.J. Miflin, pp. 276-314. Oxford Oxford University Press. 

The studies discussed so far deal - for good reasons - with the isolated FeMoco. However, qualitative molecular modeling has also been used to identify possible proton transfer routes from the surface of the nitrogenase protein to the FeMoco (40) and mechanistic aspects of biological nitrogen fixation are discussed in the light of such data (10-12). 

Sellmann, D. Sutter, J. Biological N2 fixation Molecular mechanism of the nitrogen-ase catalyzed N2 dependent HD-formation, the N2 fixation inhibition and the open-side FeMoco model, Perspectives in Coordination Chemistry , Vol. 5 Eds. Trzeciak, A. M. Sobota, D. Ziolkowski, J. University of Wroclaw Poland, 2000. 

The previous summaries [see Appendices in references (/) and (2)] have listed review articles concerned with complexes of biological interest (Section 34) and molecular nitrogen complexes (including nitrogen fixation) (Section 42). As interest grows in these topics, several books have appeared, and some of the more recent include ... 

Orme-Johnson, W. H., Molecular Basis of Biological Nitrogen Fixation, Ann. Rev. Biophys. Biophys. Chem., 14 419-459, 1985. 

How is nitrogen from the atmosphere incorporated into biologically useful compounds Nitrogen fixation is the process by which molecular nitrogen from the atmosphere is made available to organisms in the form of ammonia. Nitrification reactions convert NOg to NHg and provide another source of nitrogen. 

---