Question

Leghaemoglobin is formed for

• A. Respiration
• B. Photosynthesis
• C. Nitrogen fixation
• D. Fatty acid synthesis

Answer 1

The correct option is C Nitrogen fixation

The root nodules of the leguminous plants contain an oxygen-binding heme protein called leghemoglobin. Leghemoglobin is present in the cytoplasm of infected nodule cells at high concentrations

This leghemoglobin has a high affinity for oxygen, (approximately, ten times higher than the ß chain of human hemoglobin). The function of leghemoglobin is to help transport oxygen to the respiring symbiotic bacterial cells in a manner analogous to hemoglobin transporting oxygen to respiring tissues in animals which helps in the fixation of nitrogen.
Thus, the correct answer is option (C).