The napEDABC gene cluster that encodes the periplasmic nitrate reductase from Bradyrhizobium japonicum USDA110 has been isolated and characterized. napA encodes the catalytic subunit, and the napB and napC gene products are predicted to be a soluble dihaem c and a membrane-anchored tetrahaem c-type cytochrome, respectively. napE encodes a transmembrane protein of unknown function, and the napD ...

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...

Assimilatory NAD(P)H-nitrate reductase (EC 1.6.6.2) from Ankistrodesmus braunii has been purified to homogeneity by affinity chromatography on blue Sepharose. The specific activity of the purified enzyme is in the range of 72 to 80 units/mg of protein. The electronic spectrum of the native enzyme shows absorption maxima at 278, 414 (Soret), 532 (beta), 562 (alpha), and 669 nm and shoulders at 4...

Assimilatory nitrate reductase was particle-bound in extracts from Azotobacter vinelandii. Nitrate reduction by particle fractions was dependent on NADPH and a particle-bound electron carrier. When the enzyme was solubilized from the particles by treatment with detergents, the particle-bound electron carrier could be substituted by ferredoxin or flavodoxin. Flavodoxin reduced at the expense of ...

The specific activities of nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, glutamine synthetase, glutamate synthase, and glutamate dehydrogenase were determined in intact protoplasts and intact chloroplasts from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. After correction for contamination, the data were used to calculate the portion of each enzyme in the algal chloroplast. The chloroplast of C. reinhardtii contained all...

Staphylococcus carnosus reduces nitrate to ammonia in two steps. (i) Nitrate was taken up and reduced to nitrite, and nitrite was subsequently excreted. (ii) After depletion of nitrate, the accumulated nitrite was imported and reduced to ammonia, which again accumulated in the medium. The localization, energy gain, and induction of the nitrate and nitrite reductases in S. carnosus were characte...

1. A method was developed to examine the turnover of nitrate reductase by the use of tungstate. 2. Evidence is presented which suggests that the disappearance of nitrate reductase activity from Neurospora mycelia exposed to non-inducing conditions is due to the disappearance of the enzyme protein(s) from the mycelia, and not merely due to the disappearance of its (their) catalytic power. 3. The...

In leaves of spinach plants (Spinacia oleracea L.) performing CO(2) and NO(3) (-) assimilation, at the time of sudden darkening, which eliminates photosystem I-dependent nitrite reduction, only a minor temporary increase of the leaf nitrite content is observed. Because nitrate reduction does not depend on redox equivalents generated by photosystem I activity, a continuation of nitrate reduction...

Erythrocyte NADH-cytochrome b(5) reductase reduces methaemoglobin to functional haemoglobin. In order to examine the function of the enzyme, the structure of NADH-cytochrome b(5) reductase from human erythrocytes has been determined and refined by X-ray crystallography. At 1.75 A resolution, the root-mean-square deviations (r.m.s.d.) from standard bond lengths and angles are 0.006 A and 1.03 de...

Veillonella alcalescens, a strict anaerobe, was found to possess a nitrate reductase system which has characteristics of both assimilatory and respiratory nitrate reduction. The nitrate reductase has been identified tentatively as a particulate enzyme which utilizes a variety of electron donors for the reduction of nitrate. By use of (15)N-labeled nitrate, it was shown that under appropriate co...