MCQs on biological nitrogen fixation

1) Which one of the following is a nitrogen fixing bacterial species

a) Cyanobacteria spp
b) Azotobacter spp
c) Rhizobium spp
d) All the above
2) Which one of the following is the first product of biological nitrogen fixation
a) Ammonia
b) Nitrite
c) Nitrate
d) Amino acids
3) Which option is most appropriate about the following most probable requirements for
nitrogen fixation
i) Nitrogenase complex
ii) Strong reductants
iii)ATP
iv)Oxygen free condition
a) Only i)
b) i) and ii)
c) i), ii) and iii)
d) i), ii), iii) and iv)
4) Nitrogen fixation is carried out by the enzyme
a) Ammonia synthetase
b) Ammonia synthase
c) Nitrogenase complex
d) All the
5) Which option is the most correct about the constituents of nitrogenase complex mentioned
below:
i) Dinitrogenase reductase
ii) Dinitrogenase
iii)4Fe-4S redox centers and P clusters
iv)Molybdenum ion
a) Only i)
b) i) and ii)
c) i), ii) and iii)
d) i), ii), iii) and iv)
6) Which of the following statements about the biological nitrogen fixation is not correct?
i) Free living Azotobacter spp. can fix nitrogen in the presence of air
ii) Nitrogenase complex has ability to reduce molecular nitrogen into ammonia
iii) NADPH+H+ is the electron donor for biological nitrogen fixation
 iv) Nitrogen fixation is an energetically expensive process
a) Only i)
b) i) and ii)
c) i) and iii)
d) i) and iv)
7) Bacteria residing in the root nodules of the pea plant consume more than 20% of the ATP
produced by the plant. Why do these bacteria consume so much ATP?
a) They synthesize ammonia which is an energetically expensive process
b) Bacteria needed excess ATP for the transport of ammonia in the plant cells
c) Bacteria uses energy for survival
d) All the above
8) Number of ATP required to convert 1 molecule of nitrogen into two molecules of ammonia
a) 6
b) 8
c) 12
d) 16
9) Number of electrons required to convert 1 molecule of nitrogen into two molecules of
ammonia
a) 6
b) 8
c) 10
d) 12
10) Some of the nitrogen fixing bacteria have …………ion in place Molybdenum ion in their
nitrogenase complex
a) Magnesium
b) Manganese
c) Cobalt
d) Vanadium
11) Leguminous plants contain one of the following proteins in their root nodule
a) Hemoglobin
b) Leghemoglobin
c) Nitrogenase complex
d) Siroheme
12) The site of nitrogen fixation in nitrogenase complex is
a) P cluster
b) FeMo cofactor
c) Iron-sulfur center
d) Dinitrogenase reductase
13) During the nitrogen fixation, the electron transfer takes place in the following sequence
a) Fe-protein → P-cluster → FeMo-cofactor → N2
 b) P-cluster → Fe-protein → FeMo-cofactor → N2
c) FeMo-cofactor → Fe-protein → P-cluster → N2
d) FeMo-cofactor → P-cluster → Fe-protein → N2
14) Nif gene code for
a) Nitrate ferro reductase
b) Nitrogenase complex
c) Nitrite reductase
d) None of the above
15) Leghemoglobin in the root nodules of the leguminous plant provides……..for the nitrogen
fixation by Rhizobium species
a) Strong reductant ferredoxin
b) ATP
c) Oxygen free environment
d) Nutrients

Answer key

1(d) 2(a) 3(d) 4(c) 5(d) 6(c) 7(a) 8(d) 9(b) 10(d) 11(b) 12(b) 13(a) 14(b) 15(c)