Darrel E. Fleischman, Ph.D. Adjunct Associate Professor Office: 203 Biological Sciences (937) 775-2546 E-mail Dr. Fleischman

Doctorate: 1965, University of Arizona (G. Tollin)
Postdoctoral: Charles F. Kettering Research Laboratory (R. K. Clayton)

Research Interests:

Organisms may use light as a source of energy or as a source of information. It has been learned that at least two kinds of rhizobia — bacteria that form nitrogen-fixing nodules on plants — have photosynthetic systems. We are examining how these bacteria use sunlight to provide energy for nitrogen fixation, and how light controls the formation of their photosynthetic systems. The nodulated plants are used as sources of fixed nitrogen fertilizer for rice fields or as forage crops, in developing countries. Our goals are to learn how these symbiotic systems can be used most effectively in agriculture, and to use light as a new kind of tool for studying symbiotic nitrogen fixation. The genomes of two bacteria that we study are being sequenced by the DOE Joint Genome Institute; the information should provide powerful new insights into the workings of these bacteria.

Selected References:

Fleischman, D. E., Evans, W. R. and Miller, I. M. Bacteriochlorophyll-containing Rhizobium species. In Anoxygenic Photosynthetic Bacteria, Eds. R. E. Blankenship, M. T. Madigan and C. E. Bauer, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, pp.123-136. (1995)

Kramer, D. M., Kanazawa, A. and Fleischman, D. E. Oxygen dependence of photosynthetic electron transport in a bacteriochlorophyll-containing rhizobium. FEBS Lett. 417: 275-278. (1997)

Fleischman, D. and Kramer, D. (1998) Photosynthetic rhizobia. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1364: 17-36.

Giraud, E. and Fleischman, D. (2004) Nitrogen-fixing symbiosis between photosynthetic bacteria and legumes. Photosynthesis Research 82: 115-130.