Escherichia coli possesses two distinct nitrite reductase enzymes encoded by the nrfA and nirB operons. The expression of each operon is induced during anaerobic cell growth conditions and is further modulated by the presence of either nitrite or nitrate in the cells' environment. To examine how each operon is expressed at low, intermediate, and high levels of either nitrate or nitrite, anaerob...

NADH-nitrite oxidoreductase (EC 1.6.4) was purified to better than 95% homogeneity from batch cultures of Escherichia coli strain OR75Ch15, which is partially constitutive for nitrite reductase synthesis. Yields of purified enzyme were low, mainly because of a large loss of activity during chromatography on DEAE-cellulose. The quantitative separation of cytochrome c-552 from nitrite reductase a...

Glyoxylate and hydroxypyruvate are metabolites involved in the pathway of carbon in photorespiration. The chief glyoxylate-reducing enzyme in leaves is now known to be a cytosolic glyoxylate reductase that uses NADPH as the preferred cofactor but can also use NADH. Glyoxylate reductase has been isolated from spinach leaves, purified to homogeneity, and characterized kinetically and structurally...

The production of superoxide radicals (O2(-).) and the activities of ferricyanide reductase and cytochrome c reductase were investigated in peroxisomal membranes from pea (Pisum sativum L.) leaves using NADH and NADPH as electron donors. The generation of O2(-). by peroxisomal membranes was also assayed in native polyacrylamide gels using an in situ staining method with NitroBlue Tetrazolium (N...

Various enzymic systems, such as nitrite reductase, sulfite reductase and glutathione reductase, have been proposed for, or suspected to be involved in, the reduction of selenite in bacteria. As alphaproteobacteria have been shown to be highly tolerant to transition metal oxyanions, it seemed interesting to investigate the hypothetical involvement of these different enzymes in the reduction of ...

Vessel regions with predilection to atherosclerosis have negative wall shear stress due to flow reversal. The flow reversal causes the production of superoxides (O(2)(-)), which scavenge nitric oxide (NO), leading to a decrease in NO bioavailability and endothelial dysfunction. Here, we implicate NADPH oxidase as the primary source of O(2)(-) during full flow reversal. Nitrite production and th...

Chloroplasts were prepared from peas (Pisum sativum) in glucose-phosphate medium. In the presence of dl-glyceraldehyde, they catalyzed nitrite-dependent O(2) evolution (mean of 13 preparations, 17.5 mumole per mg chlorophyll per hour, sd 3.64). The optimum concentration of nitrite was 0.5 mm; 0.12 mm nitrite supported V(max)/2. The reaction was accompanied by the consumption of nitrite; 55 to 8...

Nicotinamide cofactor-dependent oxidoreductases have become a valuable tool for the synthesis of high value chiral compounds. The feasibility biocatalytic processes involving these enzymes stands and falls with efficiency regeneration cofactors. In this study, we describe novel NADPH method based on natural thioredoxin electron delivery system. Thioredoxin 1 (Trx1) reductase (TR) from Thermus t...

Biliverdin reductase in a stable form was purified to homogeneity from rat liver cytosol. The purified enzyme showed 3700-fold increase in specific activity when compared with the crude preparation, and the extent of recovery was 30-35%. The molecular weight was estimated at 34,000-36,000. The amino acid analysis of the purified preparation revealed the presence of 3 cysteine residues/mol of en...

The metabolism of nitric oxide in Paracoccus denitrificans has been studied using a Clark-type electrode. The uncoupler carbonyl cyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) and the SH reagent N-ethylmaleimide, both of which released nitric oxide from cells respiring nitrite, were found to be efficient inhibitors of nitric oxide reductase activity. Control experiments with another uncoupler, pentachl...