Nitrogen assimilatory

Milligan, A. J., and Harrison, P. J. (2000). Effects of non-steady-state iron Htnitation on nitrogen assimilatory enzymes in the marine diatom Thalassiosira weissjlogii (BaciUariophyceae). J. PhycoL 36, 78-86. 

Debouba, M., Gouia, H., Valadier, M.H., Ghorbel, M.H., and Suzuki, A. (2006). Salinity-induced tissue-specific diurnal changes in nitrogen assimilatory enzymes in tomato seedlings grown under high or low nitrate medium. Plant Physiol. Biochem. 44, 409 19. 

Assimilatory nitrate reduction Conversion of nitrate to reduced forms of nitrogen, generally ammonium, for the synthesis of amino acids and proteins. 

Assimilatory denitrifiers reduce nitrate to the amino acid level where it is incorporated into protein. Many plants and bacteria can do this and, therefore, use nitrate as a nitrogen source. 

Assimilatory nitrate reduction is the reduction of NOT, followed by uptake of the nitrogen by the organism as biomass. 

Figure 3. The general nitrogen model for illustrating the bio geochemical cycling in Forest ecosystems. Explanations for the fluxes 1, ammonia volatilization 2, forest fertilization 3, N2-fixation 4, denitrification 5, nitrate respiration 6, nitrification 7, immobilization 8, mineralization 9, assimilatory and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium 10, leaching 11, plant uptake 12, deposition N input 13, residue composition, exudation 14, soil erosion 15, ammonium fixation and release by clay minerals 16, biomass combustion 17, forest harvesting 18, litterfall (Bashkin, 2002).

In the second step, 32 mol O2 are generated from the assimilatory reduction of nitrate, in the form of HNO3, amine nitrogen, represented in the organic molecule as (NHj) , ... 

Nitrogen uptake that results in the formation of new biomolecules is termed an assimilation process, such as assimilatory nitrogen reduction. The processes that result in the release of DIN into seawater are referred to as dissimilations, such as dissimi-latory nitrogen reduction. An example of the latter is denitrification, in which nitrate and nitrite obtained from seawater serve as electron acceptors to enable the oxidation of organic matter. This causes the nitrate and nitrite to be transformed into reduced species, such as N2O and N2, which are released back into seawater. 

The biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen is very much controlled by redox reactions. This perspective is presented in Figure 24.3 for the redox reactions that take place in the water column and sediments. The major pathways of reduction are nitrogen fixation, assimilatory nitrogen reduction, and denitrification. The major oxidation processes are nitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox). Each of these is described next in further detail. 

This process is commonly referred to as assimilatory nitrogen (nitrate or nitrite) reduction. The electrons for these reductions are supplied by half-cell oxidations involving NADPH/NADP" and NADH/NAD" (Table 7.11). All of these reactions and membrane transport processes are mediated by enzymes that are specific to the DIN species. Considerable variation exists among the phytoplankton species in their ability to produce the necessary enzymes. Since marine phytoplankton are often nitrogen limited, the quantity and type of DIN available in the water column can greatly influence overall phytoplankton abundance and species diversity. 

Like assimilatory nitrogen reduction, denitrification proceeds through a series of steps with nitrate first being reduced to nitrite, followed by reduction of nitrite to N2(g). Under some conditions, N20(g) is also produced. 

Assimilatory nitrate reduetion The reduction of nitrate to organic nitrogen compounds that constitute the tissues of marine organisms. Plankton and some bacteria assimilate nitrogen via this process. 

Bacterial assimilatory nitrate reductases have similar properties.86/86a In addition, many bacteria, including E. coli, are able to use nitrate ions as an oxidant for nitrate respiration under anaerobic conditions (Chapter 18). Tire dissimilatory nitrate reductases involved also contain molybdenum as well as Fe-S centers.85 Tire E. coli enzyme receives electrons from reduced quinones in the plasma membrane, passing them through cytochrome b, Fe-S centers, and molybdopterin to nitrate. The three-subunit aPy enzyme contains cytochrome b in one subunit, an Fe3S4 center as well as three Fe4S4 clusters in another, and the molybdenum cofactor in the third.87 Nitrate reduction to nitrite is also on the pathway of denitrification, which can lead to release of nitrogen as NO, NzO, and N2 by the action of dissimi-latory nitrite reductases. These enzymes873 have been discussed in Chapters 16 and 18. 

Ammonia is oxidized in nature to nitrate via several intermediates in the process of nitrification. Nitrate may be reduced to nitrite by either a dissimilatory or an assimilatory process. Nitrite may be assimilated into the cell via reduction to ammonia, or it may be reduced by microorganisms to N20 and N2 in denitrification. A major part of the total nitrogen in this pathway is lost to the atmosphere. However, in turn, atmospheric dinitrogen is converted to ammonia by various bacteria in nitrogen fixation. 

The potentials found for nitrate reductases [96] vary with the role of the particular enzyme. Assimilatory nitrate reductase, found in plants, algae, and fungi, is involved in the first step in nitrogen assimilation and has a molybdenum center that operates at around 0 mV. Respiratory (dissimilatory) nitrate reductase, utilized by bacteria in energy yielding processes, has a molybdenum center that operates at around +200 mV [97,98],... 

Figure 10.5 Major processes involved in the biogeochemical cycling of N in estuaries and the coastal ocean (1) biological N2 fixation (2) ammonia assimilation (3) nitrification (4) assimilatory NC>3 reduction (5) ammonification or N remineralization (6) ammonium oxidation (speculative at this time) (7) denitrification and dissimilatory NO3 reduction to NH4+ and (8) assimilation of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON). (Modified from Libes, 1992.)...

Nitrate reductases (14) are found in a wide range of eukaryotes and prokaryotes and have a crucial role in nitrogen assimilation (33, 34) and dissimilation (35). These reductases catalyze the reduction of NO3 to N02. For the assimilatory nitrate reductases this reaction is followed by... 

At what carbon and nitrogen content and ratio do mycelia of wood-decomposing forest floor species sense nitrogen limitation, and switch from nitrogen catabolism to assimilatory metabolism ... 

Flores, E., andHerrero, A. (1994). Assimilatory nitrogen metabolism and its regulation. In The Molecular Biology of Cyanobacteria (Bryant, D., ed.). Kluwer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp. 487-517. 

Figure 21.1 Microbial nitrogen cycling processes in sedimentary environments on a coral reef (A) nitrogen fixation (B) ammonification (C) nitrification (D) dissimilatory nitrate reduction and denitrification (E) assimilatory nitrite/nitrate reduction (F) ammonium immobilization and assimilation. Adapted from D Elia and Wiebe (1990). Anammox (the anaerobic oxidation of NH4" with NO2 yielding N2 ) is not represented, as it has not yet been shown to occur on coral reefs, but may be found to be important in reef sediments.

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