To find out the growth conditions for the maximum activity of nitrogenase which catalyzes nitrogen fixation in Rhodobacter sphaeroides, the promoter activities of nifA and nifH were analyzed and the results indicated that expression of both nifA and nifH was increased in response to deprivation of both O2 concentration and nitrogen source. The nifA mutant was constructed by deleting the gene to investigate the effect of NifA, the transcriptional regulator, on the nifH and nifA expression in R. sphaeroides. Analysis of expression of nif genes using the nifA::lacZ and nifH::lacZ fusions in the nifA mutant revealed that NifA acts as a positive activator for nifH and an autoregulator in its own expression. The promoter activities of nifA and nifH in the prrA mutant grown under anaerobic and ${NH_4}^+$-free conditions were derepressed, comparing with those of the wild-type grown under the same conditions, indicating that the prrA product acts as a positive regulator in expression of nifA and nifH.