Dinitrogen fixation in male-sterile soybeans

Partial male-sterile (ms(4)/ms(4)) soybeans (Glycine max L. Merr.) and their fertile isoline (Ms(4)/Ms(4)) were grown in adjoining field plots. From 62 until 92 days after emergence, the nitrogenase activity, assayed by acetylene reduction, of the average male-sterile plant was approximately twice that of the average fertile plant. At approximately 100 days after emergence, the assayable nitrogenase activity of the fertile plants fell to zero, whereas the nitrogenase of the partial male-sterile plants continued to be active for two additional weeks. Thus, this male-sterile plant seems to fix dinitrogen both at a higher rate and over a longer duration than does its fertile isoline.