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Appl Environ Microbiol, July 1998, p. 2533-2538, Vol. 64, No. 7
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Kinetic Parameters of Denitrification in a River Continuumdagger

Roberto García-Ruiz,1,2 Sarah N. Pattinson,1 and Brian A. Whitton1,*

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Durham, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom,1 and Departamento de Ecología, Universidad de Málaga, 29071, Málaga, Spain2

Received 27 October 1997/Accepted 20 April 1998

Kinetic parameters for nitrate reduction in intact sediment cores were investigated by using the acetylene blockage method at five sites along the Swale-Ouse river system in northeastern England, including a highly polluted tributary, R. Wiske. The denitrification rate in sediment containing added nitrate exhibited a Michaelis-Menten-type curve. The concentration of nitrate for half-maximal activity (Kmap) by denitrifying bacteria increased on passing downstream from 13.1 to 90.4 µM in the main river, but it was highest (640 µM) in the Wiske. The apparent maximal rate (Vmaxap) ranged between 35.8 and 324 µmol of N m-2 h-1 in the Swale-Ouse (increasing upstream to downstream), but it was highest in the Wiske (1,194 µmol N m-2 h-1). A study of nitrous oxide (N2O) production at the same time showed that rates ranged from below the detection limit (0.05 µmol of N2O-N m-2 h-1) at the headwater site to 27 µmol of N2O-N m-2 h-1 at the downstream site. In the Wiske the rate was up to 570 µmol of N2O-N m-2 h-1, accounting for up to 80% of total N gas production.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Durham, South Road, DH1 3LE, Durham, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 (0) 191 374 2419. Fax: 44 (0) 191 386 0619. E-mail: B.A.Whitton{at}durham.ac.uk.

dagger This is Land Ocean Interaction Study programme publication no. 414.

Appl Environ Microbiol, July 1998, p. 2533-2538, Vol. 64, No. 7
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

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