Molybdenum-Dependent Nitrogenase Enzymes and Legume Symbiosis
This community investigates the biochemical machinery of biological nitrogen fixation, focusing on the molybdenum-based enzymes that convert atmospheric nitrogen into plant-usable forms, and how this process functions within legume crops.
The research centers on the structure and function of nitrogenase, the enzyme complex responsible for fixing nitrogen, with a specific emphasis on its molybdenum cofactor and iron-sulfur cluster components. A major strand of work examines the symbiotic relationship between legumes—such as soybean, common bean, and faba bean—and rhizobial bacteria, detailing the nodulation process and the genetic regulation of nitrogen uptake. Studies also explore the impact of molybdenum and phosphorus availability on crop yield and growth, as well as the synthesis and characterization of molybdenum and tungsten cluster complexes that mimic or model these biological systems.
The community is most heavily represented in research tracked for molybdenum, accounting for 4.5% of all molybdenum research and comprising 3,304 papers here. It also constitutes 3.7% of nitrogen research, with 5,240 papers, and 1.6% of rhenium research.
There are 14,881 papers in this community, published primarily in Inorganic Chemistry, Plant and Soil, and the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Recent work includes the molecular basis of rhizobial NodD activation by flavonoids, the use of nitrogenase metalloclusters for carbon-sulfur bond cleavage, and genetic editing of soybean to improve yield and nitrogen fixation.