Structural and compositional features of bacterial membranes and some of their isolated constituents (cell surface lipopolysaccharide, phospholipids) of the plant-growth-promoting diazotrophic rhizobacterium Azospirillum brasilense (wild-type strain Sp245) were characterized using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and some other techniques. FTIR spectra of the cell membranes were s...

Spontaneous ethylenediamine-resistant mutants of Azospirillum brasilense were selected on the basis of their excretion of NH(4). Two mutants exhibited no repression of their nitrogenase enzyme systems in the presence of high (20 mM) concentrations of NH(4). The nitrogenase activities of these mutants on nitrogen-free minimal medium were two to three times higher than the nitrogenase activity of...

introduction: providing the nutritional requirements of agricultural crops by non-chemical resources is a new approach in the organic farming that has attracted the attention of both the researchers and the consumers in recent years. therefore, it is highly important to find new fertilizer resources that are both economically able to provide the nutritional needs of the crop plants and have no ...

The effect of the bacterium Azospirillum brasilense jointly immobilized with Chlorella vulgaris or C. sorokiniana in alginate beads on total carbohydrates and starch was studied under dark and heterotrophic conditions for 144 h in synthetic growth medium supplemented with either d-glucose or Na-acetate as carbon sources. In all treatments, enhanced total carbohydrates and starch content per cul...

The study was undertaken to analyze the rate of uptake and utilization of various amino acids by Azospirillum brasilense Sp81 (RG) in a basal mineral salts solution under non-nitrogen fixing condition. These amino acids including other nitrogenous compounds were tested for both N- and C-sources. The kinetic constants (Km and Vmax) of uptake of some amino acids (e.g. lysine, arginine, proline, g...

Three Azospirillum brasilense mutants constitutive for nitrogen fixation (Nif(C)) in the presence of NH4(+) and deficient in nitrate-dependent growth were used as tools to define the roles of the glnB and ntrYX genes in this organism. Mutant HM14 was complemented for nitrate-dependent growth and NH4(+) regulation of nitrogenase by plasmid pL46 which contains the ntrYX genes of A. brasilense. Mu...

Three starvation regimes (a deficient culture medium, a saline buffer solution and distilled water) were evaluated for their possible effect on cell surface characteristics of Azospirillum lipoferum 1842 related to the initial adsorption of the bacterium to surfaces. The bacteria survived for 7 days in all media although they did not multiply. Upon transfer from a rich growth medium (nutrient a...