Site-directed mutagenesis and gene-replacement procedures were used to isolate mutant strains of Azotobacter vinelandii that produce altered MoFe proteins in which the alpha-subunit residue-195 position, normally occupied by a histidine residue, was individually substituted by a variety of other amino acids. Structural studies have revealed that this histidine residue is associated with the FeMo-cofactor binding domain and probably provides an NH-->S hydrogen bond to a central bridging sulfide located within FeMo-cofactor. Substitution by a glutamine residue results in an altered MoFe protein that binds but does not reduce N2, the physiological substrate. Although N2 is not a substrate for the altered MoFe protein, it is a potent inhibitor of both acetylene and proton reduction, both of which are otherwise effectively reduced by the altered MoFe protein. This result provides evidence that N2 inhibits proton and acetylene reduction by simple occupancy of a common active site. N2 also uncouples MgATP from proton reduction catalyzed by the altered MoFe protein but does so without lowering the overall rate of MgATP hydrolysis. Thus, the quasi-unidirectional flow of electrons from the Fe protein to the MoFe protein that occurs during nitrogenase turnover is controlled, in part, by the substrate serving as an effective electron sink. Substitution of the alpha-histidine-195 residue by glutamine also imparts to the altered MoFe protein hypersensitivity of both its acetylene reduction and N2 binding to inhibition by CO, indicating that the imidazole group of the alpha-histidine-195 residue might protect an Fe contained within the FeMo-cofactor from attack by CO. Finally, comparisons of the catalytic and spectroscopic properties of altered MoFe proteins produced by various mutant strains suggest that the alpha-histidine-195 residue has a structural role, which serves to keep FeMo-cofactor attached to the MoFe protein and to correctly position FeMo-cofactor within the polypeptide matrix, such that N2 binding is accommodated.