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A quantitative analysis of the direct and indirect costs of nitrogen fixation: a model based on Azotobacter vinelandii

Nitrogen fixation is advantageous in microbial competition when bioavailable nitrogen is scarce, but has substantial costs for growth rate and growth efficiency. To quantify these costs, we have developed a model of a nitrogen-fixing bacterium that constrains mass, electron and energy flow at the sc...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Inomura, Keisuke, Bragg, Jason, Follows, Michael J
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5315487/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27740611
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2016.97
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author Inomura, Keisuke
Bragg, Jason
Follows, Michael J
author_facet Inomura, Keisuke
Bragg, Jason
Follows, Michael J
author_sort Inomura, Keisuke
collection PubMed
description Nitrogen fixation is advantageous in microbial competition when bioavailable nitrogen is scarce, but has substantial costs for growth rate and growth efficiency. To quantify these costs, we have developed a model of a nitrogen-fixing bacterium that constrains mass, electron and energy flow at the scale of the individual. When tested and calibrated with laboratory data for the soil bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii, the model reveals that the direct energetic cost of nitrogen fixation is small relative to the cost of managing intracellular oxygen. It quantifies the costs and benefits of several potential oxygen protection mechanisms present in nature including enhanced respiration (respiratory protection) as well as the production of extracellular polymers as a barrier to O(2) diffusion, and increasing cell size. The latter mechanisms lead to higher growth efficiencies relative to respiratory protection alone. This simple, yet mechanistic framework provides a quantitative model of nitrogen fixation, which can be applied in ecological simulations.
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spelling pubmed-53154872017-02-27 A quantitative analysis of the direct and indirect costs of nitrogen fixation: a model based on Azotobacter vinelandii Inomura, Keisuke Bragg, Jason Follows, Michael J ISME J Original Article Nitrogen fixation is advantageous in microbial competition when bioavailable nitrogen is scarce, but has substantial costs for growth rate and growth efficiency. To quantify these costs, we have developed a model of a nitrogen-fixing bacterium that constrains mass, electron and energy flow at the scale of the individual. When tested and calibrated with laboratory data for the soil bacterium Azotobacter vinelandii, the model reveals that the direct energetic cost of nitrogen fixation is small relative to the cost of managing intracellular oxygen. It quantifies the costs and benefits of several potential oxygen protection mechanisms present in nature including enhanced respiration (respiratory protection) as well as the production of extracellular polymers as a barrier to O(2) diffusion, and increasing cell size. The latter mechanisms lead to higher growth efficiencies relative to respiratory protection alone. This simple, yet mechanistic framework provides a quantitative model of nitrogen fixation, which can be applied in ecological simulations. Nature Publishing Group 2017-01 2016-10-14 /pmc/articles/PMC5315487/ /pubmed/27740611 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2016.97 Text en Copyright © 2017 The Author(s) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
spellingShingle Original Article
Inomura, Keisuke
Bragg, Jason
Follows, Michael J
A quantitative analysis of the direct and indirect costs of nitrogen fixation: a model based on Azotobacter vinelandii
title A quantitative analysis of the direct and indirect costs of nitrogen fixation: a model based on Azotobacter vinelandii
title_full A quantitative analysis of the direct and indirect costs of nitrogen fixation: a model based on Azotobacter vinelandii
title_fullStr A quantitative analysis of the direct and indirect costs of nitrogen fixation: a model based on Azotobacter vinelandii
title_full_unstemmed A quantitative analysis of the direct and indirect costs of nitrogen fixation: a model based on Azotobacter vinelandii
title_short A quantitative analysis of the direct and indirect costs of nitrogen fixation: a model based on Azotobacter vinelandii
title_sort quantitative analysis of the direct and indirect costs of nitrogen fixation: a model based on azotobacter vinelandii
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5315487/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27740611
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ismej.2016.97
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