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Interaction of nitrate uptake and nitrogen fixation in faba beans

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Abstract

An experiment was carried out to determine the relationship between nitrate uptake and nitrogen fixation of faba beans. Therefore inoculated and uninoculated faba beans were grown in nutrient solution with different nitrate concentrations. Nitrate uptake was measured every two days during the growing period. At the end of the experiment the nitrate uptake kinetics were determined with a short time depletion technique and nitrogen fixation was measured with the acetylene reduction method. A limitation of nitrate uptake due to nitrogen fixation was relatively small. Nitrate concentrations of approximately 1 mol m−3 and 5 mol m−3 decreased nitrogen fixation to values of 16% and 1% of the control plants which received no nitrate nitrogen. A reduction of nitrogen fixation was mainly due to a decrease of specific nitrogen fixation per unit nodule weight and to a lesser extent due to a reduction of nodule growth. Only the maximum nitrate influx (Imax) seemed to be influenced by nitrogen fixation. Michaelis-Menten constants (Km) and minimum NO inf3 -concentrations (Cmin) were not significantly influenced by nitrogen fixation.

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Kage, H. Interaction of nitrate uptake and nitrogen fixation in faba beans. Plant Soil 176, 189–196 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00011782

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