title: [Nitrogen fixation--new fenomenon in rodent feeding].
abstract: We have conducted a series of experiments in order to test hypothesis about the possible use of nitrogen fixation by small phytophagous mammals as a way to supplement their nitrogen balance. Two groups of red voles Clethrionomys rutilis were kept on rations with different protein nitrogen content. Three days later, the rate of nitrogen fixation was determined in different regions of the digestive tract. Nitrogen-fixing activity has been detected in the GI tract of all studied voles, specifically in those regions, where symbiocenoses were present; it was particularly high in animals of the experimental group under the conditions of dietary nitrogen limitation. A mixed culture of bacteria capable of nitrogen fixation has been isolated from the digestive tract of red voles.
authors.affiliation: Severtsov Institute of Problems of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: E I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Naumova
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Ushakova
authors.forename: I G
authors.initials: IG
authors.lastname: Meshcherskiĭ
authors.forename: N V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Kostina
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Umarov
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000502:physiology; D004063:Digestion / Q000502:physiology*; D004064:Digestive System / Q000382:microbiology; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation; D013559:Symbiosis
vernacular_title: Azotofiksatsiia--novyĭ fenomen v pitanii gryzunov.