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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1981 December; 42(6): 1074-1084

Kinetic Explanation for Accumulation of Nitrite, Nitric Oxide, and Nitrous Oxide During Bacterial Denitrification

Michael R. Betlach^1, and James M. Tiedje^1,2

¹ Department of Microbiology and Public Health, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824
² Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824

ABSTRACT

The kinetics of denitrification and the causes of nitrite and nitrous oxide accumulation were examined in resting cell suspensions of three denitrifiers. An Alcaligenes species and a Pseudomonas fluorescens isolate characteristically accumulated nitrite when reducing nitrate; a Flavobacterium isolate did not. Nitrate did not inhibit nitrite reduction in cultures grown with tungstate to prevent formation of an active nitrate reductase; rather, accumulation of nitrite seemed to depend on the relative rates of nitrate and nitrite reduction. Each isolate rapidly reduced nitrous oxide even when nitrate or nitrite had been included in the incubation mixture. Nitrate also did not inhibit nitrous oxide reduction in Alcaligenes odorans, an organism incapable of nitrate reduction. Thus, added nitrate or nitrite does not always cause nitrous oxide accumulation, as has often been reported for denitrifying soils. All strains produced small amounts of nitric oxide during denitrification in a pattern suggesting that nitric oxide was also under kinetic control similar to that of nitrite and nitrous oxide. Apparent K_m values for nitrate and nitrite reduction were 15 µM or less for each isolate. The K_m value for nitrous oxide reduction by Flavobacterium sp. was 0.5 µM. Numerical solutions to a mathematical model of denitrification based on Michaelis-Menten kinetics showed that differences in reduction rates of the nitrogenous compounds were sufficient to account for the observed patterns of nitrite, nitric oxide, and nitrous oxide accumulation. Addition of oxygen inhibited gas production from ¹³NO₃^– by Alcaligenes sp. and P. fluorescens, but it did not reduce gas production by Flavobacterium sp. However, all three isolates produced higher ratios of nitrous oxide to dinitrogen as the oxygen tension increased. Inclusion of oxygen in the model as a nonspecific inhibitor of each step in denitrification resulted in decreased gas production but increased ratios of nitrous oxide to dinitrogen, as observed experimentally. The simplicity of this kinetic model of denitrification and its ability to unify disparate observations should make the model a useful guide in research on the physiology of denitrifier response to environmental effectors.

Present address: Extraterrestrial Research Division, Ames Research Center, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Moffett Field, CA 94035.

Journal article no. 9274 of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.

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