title: Nitrogenase activity of immobilized Azotobacter vinelandii.
abstract: As part of a program to investigate the use of biological nitrogen fixation for fertilizer ammonia production, an investigation into the immobilization of the aerobic, nitrogen-fixing bacterium, Azotobacter vinelandii was undertaken. Immobilization was acaccomplished by adsorption onto an anionic exchange cellulose (Cellex E) with loadings as high as 10'' cells/g resin. Immobilized cell preparations were tested under both batch and continuous-flow conditions. Nitrogenase activities as high as 4200 nmol/min g resin were observed as measured by the acetylene reduction assay. Immobilized cells retained their activity for as long as 117 hr in a continuous-flow reactor. Activity loss appeared to be related to the development of a variant strain.
mesh_terms: D000114:Acetylene / Q000378:metabolism; D000327:Adsorption; D001395:Azotobacter / Q000201:enzymology*; D007475:Ion Exchange Resins; D009591:Nitrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction
chemical_list: D007475:Ion Exchange Resins; D009591:Nitrogenase; D000114:Acetylene