| MadSci Network: Cell Biology |
Dear Sarah,
Some plants, with help from special bacteria called Rhizobium or Bradyrhizobium species, do indeed make something very much like the protein hemoglobin found in your blood. It is called leghemoglobin, and it carries oxygen very much like your blood. It is formed in nodules in legumes that fix atmospheric nitrogen to help their growth (all living organisms nead a source of nitrogen to make necessary components for th body - some bacteria can use the nitrogen in the atmosphere). You can find these nodules on soybean, bean or pea roots for example. When you break an active nodule open you will find it looks red or pink from the leghemoglobin in it. The nodule can't function properly without leghemoglobin just as you need blood to live and carry oxygen