Necessity of Boron for Nostoc muscorum

Eyster, Clyde

doi:10.1038/170755a0

Cited by 27 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…Stimulation of growth rates with added boron in the absence ofcombined N has been reported for the N2-fixing cyanobacteria Nostoc muscorum, Calothrix parietina, and Anabaena cylindrica (6,9). Boron, however, had little effect on the growth of these cyanobacteria when nitrates were added to the medium.…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

Essentiality of Boron for Dinitrogen Fixation in Anabaena sp. PCC 7119

Mateo¹,

Bonilla²,

Fernández‐Valiente³

et al. 1986

Plant Physiol.

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The relationship between the requirement for boron and the form of N supplied in nutrient media to cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. PCC 7119 was investigated. When cells were grown in a medium which contained nitrate or ammonium-N, boron deficiency in the nutrient media did not inhibit growth or change cell composition. However, when cells were dependent on N2 fixation, the lack of boron inhibited growth (i.e. growth ceased after 96 hours under these conditions). Additionally, boron-deficient cells showed a significant decrease in their content of phycobiliproteins and chlorophyll and accumulated carbohydrates within 24 hours of removing boron from the nutrient media. Inhibition of photosynthetic 02 evolution accompanied the decrease in photosynthetic pigments. Boron deficiency symptoms were relieved when either boron or combined N was added to boron-deficient cultures. The degree of recovery depended upon the age of the cultures. Assays of nitrogenase activity showed that, after 2 hours of growth, nitrogenase activity of boron-deficient cells was inhibited by 40%. After 24 hours a total inactivation of nitrogenase activity was observed in boron-deficient cells. These results strongly suggest an involvement of boron in N2 fixation in cyanobacteria.Boron is an essential element for all higher plants but it is not required by most phototrophic microorganisms. A requirement for boron in marine and freshwater diatoms was clearly shown (13). In contrast, others (3,7,9,17) have failed to demonstrate a requirement for boron in Chlorella and other green algae.Stimulation of growth rates with added boron in the absence ofcombined N has been reported for the N2-fixing cyanobacteria Nostoc muscorum, Calothrix parietina, and Anabaena cylindrica (6, 9). Boron, however, had little effect on the growth of these cyanobacteria when nitrates were added to the medium. Growth of non-N2-fixing Microcystis aeruginosa also was not enhanced by boron (9). Gerloff (9) suggested that the lack of response to boron in cells grown in nutrient media containing nitrates was due to boron contamination of the nitrate salt used to prepare the growth media rather than to the involvement of boron in the N2-fixation process. By using salts containing no detectable amounts of boron, we reported (16) that boron deficiency during 3 months of culture did not affect the growth of the non-N2-fixing cyanobacterium Anacystis nidulans. We concluded that the requirement for boron is not a general feature of all cyanobacteria and suggested that the essentiality of boron could be restricted to N2-fixing strains (16).

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mentioning

confidence: 93%

Essentiality of Boron for Dinitrogen Fixation in Anabaena sp. PCC 7119

Mateo¹,

Bonilla²,

Fernández‐Valiente³

et al. 1986

Plant Physiol.

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“…The cells deprived of boron became chlorotic in the third week of culture and were completely white by the end of 8 weeks. At this time the population of N. muscorum determined by cell count was only 39% of the population of the cultures supplied with boron (Eyster, 1952).…”

Section: Effect Of Boron On the Growth Of Organismsmentioning

confidence: 82%

Boron

Lovatt

Dugger

1984

Biochemistry of the Essential Ultratrace Elements

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Boron is the only nonmetal in a family otherwise comprised of active metals, Group IlIA of the periodic table. As expected, boron exhibits bonding and structural characteristics intermediate to both. Like carbon (atomic number 6), boron (atomic number 5) has a tendency to form double bonds and macromolecules. In addition, there are several features that are more or less unique to boron and this group of elements. These include electron-deficient molecules (such as boron trifluoride) and bridge bonds (such as those in diborane, B2H6)' These tendencies have formed the basis for the many hypotheses attempting to predict the mode of action of boron as a nutrient essential to the metabolism of vascular plants (Section 17.2.1), as a toxicant to animals (Section 17.1.5), and for achieving boron accumulation in cancer cells (Section 17.1.8).In this chapter the biochemistry of boron is reviewed predominantly in vascular plants. The discussion is organized around those metabolic processes that boron nutrition repeatedly has been shown to influence: carbohydrate metabolism, hormone action, membrane structure and function, and nucleic acid biosynthesis.17.1.

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“…It has been established that aquatic primary producers have requirements for a wide variety of minor elements, including iron (Arnon, 1958;Menzel and Ryther, 1961;Schelske, 1962;Goldman, 1964), manganese (Hopkins, 1930;Arnon, 1958), cobalt (Holm-Hansen et al, 1954;Benoit, 1957), copper (Walker, 1953; A. J. Horne and N. J. Williams, personal communications; H. W. Paerl et al, unpublished data), zinc (Goldman, 1964); molybdenum (Bortels, 1940;Goldman, 1960), boron (Eyster, 1952(Eyster, , 1968Wetzel, 1964), and vanadium (Arnon and Wessel, 1953). The relative abundance of such trace elements in catchment and basin rocks and soils varies dramatically on a geographical scale (Holland, 1978).…”

Section: Geological Physical Chemical and Biological Characteristimentioning

confidence: 99%

Advances in Microbial Ecology

1982

Advances in Microbial Ecology

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Necessity of Boron for Nostoc muscorum

Cited by 27 publications

References 3 publications

Essentiality of Boron for Dinitrogen Fixation in Anabaena sp. PCC 7119

Essentiality of Boron for Dinitrogen Fixation in Anabaena sp. PCC 7119

Boron

Advances in Microbial Ecology

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