[Iron content and electron donor specificity of the nitrate reductase from Ankistrodesmus]

Purification and properties of assimilatory nitrate reductase [NAD(P)H] from Ankistrodesmus braunii

Assimilatory nitrate reductase [NAD(P)H] (EC 1.6.6.2) from Ankistrodesmus braunii has been purified to homogeneity by a simple procedure that utilizes as the main step affinity chromatography on Blue-Sepharose. The best enzyme preparation has a specific activity of 61.25 units/mg protein. The enzyme has a sedimentation coefficient of 10.9 S by sucrose-density-gradient centrifugation, and a Stokes radius of 9.8 nm was estimated by gel filtration techniques. Its molecular weight is 460000, but only one single band of 58000 was detected after sodium dodecyl sulfate/polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The native enzyme seems thus to be composed of eight subunits. The nitrate reductase absorption spectrum shows wavelengths maxima at 280 and 416 nm and a broad shoulder at 450 nm. Reduced enzyme shows maxima at 424 (Soret), 527 (beta) and 557 (alpha) nm, and a bleaching at 450 nm. The reduced extracted heme chromophore, in pyridine and KOH, shows absorption bands at 414, 522 and 552 nm. These properties indicate the presence of a b-type cytochrome and flavin as prosthetic groups of A. braunii nitrate reductase. A minimum of four molecules of heme has been calculated per molecule of the enzyme complex. Redox titration of the enzyme shows a midpoint potential for the heme of -73 mV at pH 7.0. In the presence of p-hydroxymercuribenzoate, which inhibits the NAD(P)H-dependent activities of the complex, the enzyme-bound heme can be reduced with dithionite, but not with NAD(P)H.

Pyridine nucleotide specificity and other properties of purified nitrate reductase from Chlorella variegata

Nitrate reductase (NR) (EC 1.6.6.2) from Chlorella variegata 211/10d has been purified by blue sepharose affinity chromatography. The enzyme can utilise NADH or NADPH for nitrate reduction with apparent K m values of 11.5 μM and 14.5 μM, respectively. Apparent K m values for nitrate are 0.13 mM (NADH-NR) and 0.14 mM (NADPH-NR). The diaphorase activity of the enzyme is inhibited strongly by parachloromercuribenzoic acid; NADH or NADPH protects the enzyme against this inhibition. NR proper activity of the enzyme is partially inactive after extraction and may be activated after the addition of ferricyanide. The addition of NAD(P)H and cyanide causes a reversible inactivation of the NR proper activity although preincubation with either NADH or NADH and ADP has no significant effect.

Some effects of nitrogen-starvation on nitrogen and carbohydrate metabolism inAnkistrodesmus braunii

Enzymic activities have been measured in cell-free extracts from nitrogen-starved cultures ofAnkistrodesmus braunii. During ten hours of nitrogenstarvation the activities of the enzymes nitrite reductase (E.C.1.6.6.4), glutamic dehydrogenase (E.C.1.4.1.4), glutamine synthetase (E.C.6.3.1.2) and urea amidolyase (E.C.3.5.1.5) were derepressed while the activities of the enzymes malate dehydrogenase (E.C.1.1.1.37) and hexokinase (E.C.2.7.1.1) remained more or less unchanged. In contrast, the photosynthetic capacity of the nitrogen-starved cultures declined rapidly and accompanying this decline were losses in the activities of ribulose diphosphate carboxylase (E.C.4.1.1.39) and triose phosphate-NADP-dehydrogenase (E.C.1.2.1.13).

Studies on the regulation of assimilatory nitrate reductase in Ankistrodesmus braunii

In the green alga Ankistrodesmus braunii, all the activities associated with the nitrate reductase complex (i.e., NAD(P)H-nitrate reductase, NAD(P)H-cytochrome c reductase and FMNH2-or MVH-nitrate reductase) are nutritionally repressed by ammonia or methylamine. Besides, ammonia or methylamine promote in vivo the reversible inactivation of nitrate reductase, but not of NAD(P)H-cytochrome c reductase. Subsequent removal of the inactivating agent from the medium causes reactivation of the inactive enzyme. Menadione has a striking stimulation on the in vivo reactivation of the inactive enzyme. The nitrate reductase activities, but not the diaphorase activity, can be inactivated in vitro by preincubating a partially purified enzyme preparation with NADH or NADPH. ADP, in the presence of Mg(2+), presents a cooperative effect with NADH in the in vitro inactivation of nitrate reductase. This effect appears to be maximum at a concentration of ADP equimolecular with that of NADH.

The nitrate-reducing enzyme system of Chlamydomonas reinhardii

In Chlamydomonas reinhardii the reduction of nitrate to ammonia occurs in two independent enzymatic steps: 1. the two-electrons reduction of nitrate to nitrite catalyzed by NADH-nitrate reductase, and, 2. the six-electrons reduction of nitrite to ammonia catalyzed by ferredoxin-nitrite reductase. Both enzymes have been purified and characterized, and some of their properties have been studied.