Interactions between nitrate assimilation and 2,4-dinitrophenol cometabolism in Rhodobacter capsulatus E1F1

The phototrophic, nitrate-photoassimilating bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus E1F1 cometabolizes 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) by photoreducing it to 2-amino-4-nitrophenol under anaerobic conditions. DNP uptake and nitrate metabolism share some biochemical features, and in this article we show that both processes are influenced by each other. Thus, as was demonstrated for nitrate assimilation, DNP uptake requires a thermolabile periplasmic component. Nitrate assimilation is inhibited by DNP, which probably affects the nitrite reduction step because neither nitrate reductase activity nor the transport of nitrate or nitrite is inhibited. On the other hand, DNP uptake is competitively inhibited by nitrate, probably at the transport level, because the nitroreductase activity is not inhibited in vitro by nitrate, nitrite, or ammonium. In addition, the decrease in the intracellular DNP concentration in the presence of nitrate probably inactivates the nitroreductase. These results allow prediction of a negative environmental effect if nitrate and DNP are released together to natural habitats, because it may lead to a lower rate of DNP metabolism and to nitrite accumulation.