The Effects of Atmospheric Contact on the Rate of Acetylene Breakdown in Azotobacter chroococcum

Azotobacter chroococcum is a bacterium known to break the triple bond that forms N2. This is important for life that cannot devour other organisms that have already converted the N2 into usable forms. Nitrogen fixing bacteria break the triple bond and form compounds that plants and other bacteria can readily use. This same species of bacteria can also break the triple bond that appears in the compound acetylene. This experiment looked into the possibility of affecting the rate of breakdown by the amount of contact that the bacteria has to the surrounding environment. A gas chromatograph, equipped with a flame ionization diode, measures the amounts of acetylene present before and after a 24 hour period. This encompasses the idea of understanding the rates of breakdown in Nitrogen also. The outcome shows the atmospheric contact has a direct relation to the ability of the bacterium’s breakdown of atmospheric air.