In a young culture, photosynthetic-oxygen evolution by Gloeocapsa is at a low level while nitrogenase activity is at its greatest. When the culture ages, there is a rapid increase in photosynthetic pigments and oxygen evolution, and nitrogenase activity decreases. The temporal separation of nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis may serve to protect nitrogenase from oxygen denaturation.
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Gallon et al. (1974) studied this question.