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Updated: Jun 23, 2026

Measurement of the Potential Rates of Dissimilatory Nitrate Reduction to Ammonium Based on 14NH4+/15NH4+ Analyses via Sequential Conversion to N2O
Published on: October 7, 2020
A soluble form of ammonia monooxygenase in Nitrosomonas europaea
Stefan Gilch1, Ortwin Meyer, Ingo Schmidt
1Department of Microbiology, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
Abstract:
Ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) of Nitrosomonas europaea is a metalloenzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of ammonia to hydroxylamine. This study shows that AMO resides in the cytoplasm of the bacteria in addition to its location in the membrane and is distributed approximately equally in both subcellular fractions. AMO in both fractions catalyzes the oxidation of ammonia and binds [(14)C]acetylene, a mechanism-based inhibitor which specifically interacts with catalytically active AMO. Soluble AMO was purified 12-fold to electrophoretic homogeneity with a yield of 8%. AMO has a molecular mass of approximately 283 kDa with subunits of ca. 27 kDa (alpha-subunit, AmoA), ca. 42 kDa (beta-subunit, AmoB), and ca. 24 kDa (gamma-subunit, cytochrome c(1)) in an alpha(3)beta(3)gamma(3) sub-unit structure. Different from the beta-subunit of membrane-bound AMO, AmoB of soluble AMO possesses an N-terminal signal sequence. AMO contains Cu (9.4+/-0.6 mol per mol AMO), Fe (3.9+/-0.3 mol per mol AMO), and Zn (0.5 to 2.6 mol per mol AMO). Upon reduction the visible absorption spectrum of AMO reveals absorption bands characteristic of cytochrome c. Electron para-magnetic resonance spectroscopy of air-oxidized AMO at 50 K shows a paramagnetic signal originating from Cu(2+) and at 10 K a paramagnetic signal characteristic of heme-Fe.
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