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Published on: August 3, 2016
Oxygen increases the steady-state level of nitrate in denitrifying cells of Paracoccus denitrificans
1Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. ikucera@chemi.muni.cz
Abstract:
The levels of nitrate in denitrifying cells of Paracoccus denitrificans were determined by centrifugation through silicone oil into phosphoric acid and ion-exchange HPLC analysis of the cell lysates, using [14C]sucrose to correct for the trapped external medium. Introduction of oxygen brought about a significant upward shift in the intracellular nitrate concentration. This result calls into question the current thinking that oxygen blocks nitrate respiration primarily due to the inhibition of nitrate transport into the cell.
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