Bacteria nitrogen processing

Not all chemical reactions proceed at rates fast enough to create significant deviations from NAECs. For example, although N2 gas is consumed by nitrogen-fixing plankton and produced by denitrifying bacteria, these processes are too slow to affect the relatively high seawater concentrations established by equilibration with the atmosphere. 

Virus infection of bacteria involved in nitrogen processing has been observed for decades (Adolph and Haselkom, 1973 Khudyakov, 1977 Mendzhul et al., 1991 Safferman et al., 1972), however it is only recently that the impHcated in releasing fixed nitrogen (Hewson et al., 2004 Ohki, 1999 Ohki and Fujita, 1996 Suttle,... 

Lightning, bacteria, industrial processes, and even lichens on tree branches convert nitrogen from the atmosphere into compounds. 

Nitrogen fixation Conversion of atmospheric nitrogen into organic nitrogen compounds available to green plants a process that can be carried out only by certain strains of soil bacteria. 

Besides nitrogen fixation, the only other major source of reduced nitrogen is the decomposition of soil or aquatic organic matter. This process is called ammonification. Heterotrophic bacteria are principally responsible for this. These organisms utilize organic compounds from dead plant or animal matter as a carbon source, and leave behind NH3 and NHJ, which can then be recycled by the biosphere. In some instances heterotrophic bacteria may incorporate a complete organic molecule into their own biomass. The majority of the NH3 produced in this way stays within the biosphere however, a small portion of it will be volatilized. In addition to this source, the breakdown of animal excreta also contributes to atmospheric... 

C14-0023. Atmospheric nitrogen can be transformed to ammonia by various bacteria that fix nitrogen. The overall process is complicated, but the net reaction can be written as... 

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