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Inorganic nitrogen metabolism in bacteria
1Centre for Metalloprotein Spectroscopy and Biology, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. d.richardson@uea.ac.uk
Current Opinion in Chemical Biology
|May 29, 1999
Summary
Biological chemistry research advances understanding of nitrogen cycle enzymes. New structural and spectroscopic data illuminate key reactions like nitrogen fixation and nitrite reduction, aiding model development.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Enzymology
- Redox Chemistry
Background:
- Inorganic nitrogen species are central to biological chemistry.
- Enzymatic catalysis often involves redox chemistry at metal centers.
- The nitrogen cycle encompasses diverse enzymatic reactions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review recent advancements in nitrogen cycle enzymology.
- To highlight the impact of new structural and spectroscopic data.
- To discuss the development of models for enzyme catalysis.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of recent structural data for nitrogen-cycling enzymes.
- Interpretation of new spectroscopic data.
- Comparison of related enzyme structures to infer catalytic mechanisms.
Main Results:
- Significant progress in understanding nitrogen fixation, hydroxylamine oxidation, and nitrite reduction.
- New structural information enables model design for nitrate reductases and nitric oxide reductase.
- Advances in the enzymology of anaerobic ammonia oxidation and heterotrophic nitrification.
Conclusions:
- Recent structural and spectroscopic insights have greatly enhanced the study of nitrogen cycle enzymology.
- Models for key enzyme functions can be developed based on emerging structural data.
- Understanding of novel nitrogen cycle reactions is rapidly expanding.
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