In enzymology, a nitrous oxide reductase also known as nitrogen:acceptor oxidoreductase (N2O-forming) is an enzyme that catalyzes the final step in bacterial denitrification, the reduction of nitrous oxide to dinitrogen.
N2O + 2 reduced cytochome c N2 + H2O + 2 cytochrome c
It plays a critical role in preventing release of a potent greenhouse gas into the atmosphere.
N2O is an inorganic metabolite of the prokaryotic cell during denitrification. Thus, denitrifiers comprise the principal group of N2O producers, with roles played also by nitrifiers, methanotrophic bacteria, and fungi. Among them, only denitrifying prokaryotes have the ability to convert N2O to N2. Conversion of N2O into N2 is the last step of a complete nitrate denitrification process and is an autonomous form of respiration. N2O is generated in the denitrifying cell by the activity of respiratory NO reductase. Some microbial communities have only capability of N2O reduction to N2 and does not have the other denitrification pathways such communities are known as nitrous oxide reducers. Some denitrifiers do not have complete denitrification with end product N2O
Nitrous-oxide reductase is a homodimer that is located in the bacterial periplasm. X-ray structures of the enzymes from Pseudomonas nautica and Paracoccus denitrificans have revealed that each subunit (MW=65 kDa) is organized into two domains. One cupredoxin-like domain contains a binuclear copper protein known as CuA.
The second domain comprises a 7-bladed propeller of β-sheets that contains the catalytic site called CuZ, which is a tetranuclear copper-sulfide cluster. The distance between the CuA and CuZ centers within a single subunit is greater than 30Å, a distance that precludes physiologically relevant rates of intra-subunit electron transfer. However, the two subunits are orientated "head to tail" such that the CuA center in one subunit lies only 10 Å from the CuZ center in the second ensuring that pairs of redox centers in opposite subunits form the catalytically competent unit.
Cette page est générée automatiquement et peut contenir des informations qui ne sont pas correctes, complètes, à jour ou pertinentes par rapport à votre recherche. Il en va de même pour toutes les autres pages de ce site. Veillez à vérifier les informations auprès des sources officielles de l'EPFL.
Explore le cycle de l'azote, en mettant l'accent sur la médiation microbienne, les processus clés, les enzymes et les impacts anthropiques sur la fixation de l'azote.
Explore l'analyse des substances organiques, de la demande biochimique en oxygène, de la biomasse bactérienne, de la pollution par l'azote et le phosphore et de l'impact des phosphates sur les milieux aquatiques.
The combination of palladium salts and bipyridyl ligands can lead to the formation of a large variety of coordination complexes, with different shapes and sizes, displaying a very versatile host-guest chemistry. Increasing their structural complexity remai ...
Autotrophic nitrate-reducing Fe(II)-oxidizing (NRFeOx) microorganisms fix CO2 and oxidize Fe(II) coupled to denitrification, influencing carbon, iron, and nitrogen cycles in pH-neutral, anoxic environments. However, the distribution of electrons from Fe(II ...
Nitrous oxide (N2O) has gained much interest because of its physiological effects ("laughing gas") and its negative environmental impact ("greenhouse gas", "ozone-depleting substance"): It has a lifetime of more than 100 years in the atmosphere. Its persis ...