Increases of 23- (5.6 mmol acetylene reduced mg dry wt(-1)) and 16- (4 mmol acetylene reduced mg dry wt(-1)) fold in nitrogenase activity and 12- (671 mul H-2 mg dry wt(-1) h(-1)) and 6- (349 mul mg dry wt(-1) h(-1))fold in H-2 photoproduction in Rhodopseudomonas palustris JA1 over 24 h were achieved with pyrazine 2-carboxylate (3 mM) and 3-picoline (3 mM), respectively, and were higher than earlier reports of enhancement (1.5 to 5- fold) in biological H-2 production using various alternative methods.