An assay method is described for measurement of absolute concentrations of the molybdenum cofactor, based on complementation of the defective nitrate reductase ('apo nitrate reductase') in extracts of the nit-1 mutant of Neurospora crassa. A number of alternative methods are described for preparing, anaerobically, molybdenum-cofactor-containing solutions from sulphite oxidase, xanthine oxidase ...

Nitrate reductase induction by nitrate and repression by NH,+ has been studied extensively in the simple eukaryote Aspergillus nidulans (Pateman & Cove, 1967; Cove & Pateman, 1968). Wild-type cells grown on minimal medium, with 20m~-NaNO~ as the nitrogen source, rapidly lose nitrate reductase activity when transferred either to minimal medium without N (-N medium) or to minimal medium without C...

The enzyme systems which catalyze the reduction of nitrate to nitrite have generally been classified into two broad types: (a) assimilatory nitrate reductase, which is responsible for the first step in the reduction of nitrate for the ultimate biosynthesis of nitrogen-containing cell constituents (e.g., amino acids aind purines and pyrimidines), and (b) respiratory or dissimilatory nitrate redu...

Nodulated soybean plants (Glycine max [L.] Merr) were grown in sand culture without combined N or with a continuous supply of nitrate in nutrient solution. Moderate nitrate concentration (30 milligrams N per liter) had little effect on nodule weight/plant while high nitrate concentration (100 milligrams N per liter) depressed nodule weight/plant by 70 to 80% with harvests 30 to 60 days after pl...

Molybdenum cofactor activity was found in the soluble fraction of cell-free extracts of Escherichia coli grown aerobically in media supplemented with molybdate. Cofactor was detected by its ability to complement the nitrate reductase-deficient mutant of Neurospora crossa, nit-1, resulting in the vitro formation of nitrate reductase activity. Acid treatment of E. coli extracts was not required f...

The inhibitory effect of nitrate on nitrogenase activity in root nodules of legume plants has been known for a long time. The major factor inducing changes in nitrogenase activity is the concentration of free oxygen inside nodules. Oxygen availability in the infected zone of nodule is limited, among others, by the gas diffusion resistance in nodule cortex. The presence of nitrate may cause chan...

Plants differ in tissue localization of nitrate reduction and assimilation. Some species reduce nitrate primarily in the leaves, whereas other species localize nitrate reduction and assimilation in the roots. We determined how nitrate assimilation is partitioned among leaves, stems and roots of poplar (Populus tremula L. x P. alba L.) by comparing tissue differences in in vivo nitrate reductase...

Suspension cultures of Paul's Scarlet rose were grown in two defined media which differed only in their inorganic nitrogen content. Both possessed equal amounts of NO(3) (+) (24 mm), but differed in that NH(4) (+) (0.91 mm) was present in control medium; whereas, no NH(4) (+) was present in the test medium. A comparison of fresh weight increases over a 14-day growth period showed that NH(4) (+)...

We examined the properties of mutants of E. coli which are defective with respect to nitrate reductase activity. chlE::Mu cts and chlG::Mu cts mutants were all chlorate resistant, and the strains that we examined all synthesized nitrate reductase apoenzyme. We concluded that the chlE and chlG loci, like the chlA, chlB, and chlD loci, are involved in the synthesis of insertion of molybdenum cofa...

l-Canavanine inhibits the appearance of nitrate reductase (NADH-nitrate oxidoreductase, EC 1.6.6.1) in both root tips and mature root sections of corn (Zea mays L.). Ten-fold more canavanine was required to cause a 50% reduction in the level of nitrate reductase activity (NRA) in root tips than in mature root sections. For example with one particular batch of seeds 500 mum canavanine was effect...