This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Strohm, T. O.
Right arrow Articles by Schink, B.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Strohm, T. O.
Right arrow Articles by Schink, B.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Strohm, T. O.
Right arrow Articles by Schink, B.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2007, p. 1420-1424, Vol. 73, No. 5
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02508-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Growth Yields in Bacterial Denitrification and Nitrate Ammonification{triangledown}

Tobin O. Strohm,1 Ben Griffin,1,{dagger} Walter G. Zumft,2 and Bernhard Schink1*

Fachbereich Biologie, Universität Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany,1 Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie, Universität Karlsruhe, D-76128 Karlsruhe, Germany2

Received 27 October 2006/ Accepted 22 December 2006

Denitrification and nitrate ammonification are considered the highest-energy-yielding respiration systems in anoxic environments after oxygen has been consumed. The corresponding free energy changes are 7 and 35% lower than that of aerobic respiration, respectively. Growth yield determinations with pure cultures of Paracoccus denitrificans and Pseudomonas stutzeri revealed that far less energy is converted via ATP into cell mass than expected from the above calculations. Denitrification with formate or hydrogen as electron donor yielded about 2.4 to 3.0 g dry matter per mol formate or hydrogen and 15 to 18 g dry matter per mol acetate. Similar yields with acetate were obtained with Pseudomonas stutzeri. Wolinella succinogenes and Sulfurospirillum deleyianum, which reduce nitrate to ammonia, both exhibited similar yield values with formate or H2 plus nitrate. The results indicate that ATP synthesis in denitrification is far lower than expected from the free energy changes and even lower than in nitrate ammonification. The results are discussed against the background of our present understanding of electron flow in denitrification and with respect to the importance of denitrification and nitrate ammonification in the environment.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Fachbereich Biologie, Universität Konstanz, D-78457 Konstanz, Germany. Phone: (49) 7531 882140. Fax: (49) 7531 884047. E-mail: Bernhard.Schink{at}uni-konstanz.de.

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 5 January 2007.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Microbiology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2007, p. 1420-1424, Vol. 73, No. 5
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.02508-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Dong, L. F., Smith, C. J., Papaspyrou, S., Stott, A., Osborn, A. M., Nedwell, D. B. (2009). Changes in Benthic Denitrification, Nitrate Ammonification, and Anammox Process Rates and Nitrate and Nitrite Reductase Gene Abundances along an Estuarine Nutrient Gradient (the Colne Estuary, United Kingdom). Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 75: 3171-3179 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Ma, W. K., Farrell, R. E., Siciliano, S. D. (2008). Soil Formate Regulates the Fungal Nitrous Oxide Emission Pathway. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 6690-6696 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Lin, H.-Y., Bledsoe, P. J., Stewart, V. (2007). Activation of yeaR-yoaG Operon Transcription by the Nitrate-Responsive Regulator NarL Is Independent of Oxygen- Responsive Regulator Fnr in Escherichia coli K-12. J. Bacteriol. 189: 7539-7548 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»