Nitrite

About: Nitrite is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 15425 publications have been published within this topic receiving 484581 citations.

Nitrite accumulation and nitric oxide emission in relation to cellular signaling in nitrite reductase antisense tobacco.

Abstract: An antisense nitrite reductase (NiR, EC 1.7.7.1) tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) transformant (clone 271) was used to gain insight into a possible correlation between nitrate reductase (NR, EC 1.6.6.1)-dependent nitrite accumulation and nitric oxide (NO·) production, and to assess the regulation of signal transduction in response to stress conditions. Nitrite concentrations of clone 271 leaves were 10-fold, and NO· emission rates were 100-fold higher than in wild type leaves. Increased protein tyrosine nitration in clone 271 suggests that high NO· production resulted in increased peroxynitrite (ONOO–) formation. Tyrosine nitration was also observed in vitro by adding peroxynitrite to leaf extracts. As in mammalian cells, NO· and derivatives also increased synthesis of proteins like 14-3-3 and cyclophilins, which are both involved in regulation of activity and stability of enzymes.

Production of NO and N(inf2)O by Pure Cultures of Nitrifying and Denitrifying Bacteria during Changes in Aeration.

Abstract: Peak emissions of NO and N(inf2)O are often observed after wetting of soil. The reactions to sudden changes in the aeration of cultures of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria with respect to NO and N(inf2)O emissions were compared to obtain more information about the microbiological aspects of peak emissions. In continuous culture, the nitrifier Nitrosomonas europaea and the denitrifiers Alcaligenes eutrophus and Pseudomonas stutzeri were cultured at different levels of aeration (80 to 0% air saturation) and subjected to changes in aeration. The relative production of NO and N(inf2)O by N. europaea, as a percentage of the ammonium conversion, increased from 0.87 and 0.17%, respectively, at 80% air saturation to 2.32 and 0.78%, respectively, at 1% air saturation. At 0% air saturation, ammonium oxidation and N(inf2)O production ceased but NO production was enhanced. Coculturing of N. europaea with the nitrite oxidizer Nitrobacter winogradskyi strongly reduced the relative levels of NO and N(inf2)O production, probably as an effect of the lowered nitrite concentration. After lowering the aeration, N. europaea produced large short-lasting peaks of NO and N(inf2)O emissions in the presence but not in the absence of nitrite. A. eutrophus and P. stutzeri began to denitrify below 1% air saturation, with the former accumulating nitrite and N(inf2)O and the latter reducing nitrate almost completely to N(inf2). Transition of A. eutrophus and P. stutzeri from 80 to 0% air saturation resulted in transient maxima of denitrification intermediates. Such transient maxima were not observed after transition from 1 to 0%. Reduction of nitrate by A. eutrophus continued 48 h after the onset of the aeration, whereas N(inf2)O emission by P. stutzeri increased for only a short period. It was concluded that only in the presence of nitrite are nitrifiers able to dominate the NO and N(inf2)O emissions of soils shortly after a rainfall event.

Feedback Regulation of Nitrate Influx in Barley Roots by Nitrate, Nitrite, and Ammonium

Abstract: The short-lived radiotracer 13N was used to study feedback regulation of nitrate influx through the inducible high-affinity transport system of barley (Hordeum vulgare L. cv Steptoe) roots. Both wild-type plants and the mutant line Az12:Az70 (genotype nar1a;nar7w), which is deficient in the NADH-specific and NAD(P)H-bispecific nitrate reductases (R.L. Warner, R.C. Huffaker [1989] Plant Physiol 91: 947–953) showed strong feedback inhibition of nitrate influx within approximately 5 d of exposure to 100 fmu]M nitrate. The result with the mutant, in which the flux of nitrogen into reduced products is greatly reduced, indicated that nitrate itself was capable of exercising feedback regulation upon its own influx. This conclusion was supported by the observation that feedback in wild-type plants occurred in both the presence and absence of L-methionine sulfoximine, an inhibitor of ammonium assimilation. Nitrite and ammonium were also found to be capable of exerting feedback inhibition upon nitrate influx, although it was not determined whether these ions themselves or subsequent metabolites were responsible for the effect. It is suggested that feed-back regulation of nitrate influx is potentially mediated through several nitrogen pools, including that of nitrate itself.

Ammonium and nitrite inhibition of methane oxidation by Methylobacter albus BG8 and Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b at low methane concentrations

Abstract: Methane oxidation by pure cultures of the methanotrophs Methylobacter albus BG8 and Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b was inhibited by ammonium choride and sodium nitrite relative to that in cultures assayed in either nitrate-containing or nitrate-free medium. M. albus was generally more sensitive to ammonium and nitrite than M. trichosporium. Both species produced nitrite from ammonium; the concentrations of nitrite produced increased with increasing methane concentrations in the culture headspaces. Inhibition of methane oxidation by nitrite was inversely proportional to headspace methane concentrations, with only minimal effects observed at concentrations of>500 ppm in the presence of 250 μM nitrite. Inhibition increased with increasing ammonium at methane concentrations of 100 ppm. In the presence of 500 μM ammonium, inhibition increased initially with increasing methane concentrations from 1.7 to 100 ppm; the extent of inhibition decreased with methane concentrations of > 100 ppm. The results of this study provide new insights that explain some of the previously observed interactions among ammonium, nitrite, methane, and methane oxidation in soils and aquatic systems.