Laboratory incubation study demonstrates nitrous oxide is an obligatory intermediate in nitrate reduction in forest soil, indicating distinct regulatory interactions between nitrogen oxides.
Dissimilatory reduction of labeled nitrate in the presence of nonlabeled N 2 O, or NO, was studied in forest mor humus during anaerobic incubation. Data on the isotopic composition of the N 2 O and N 2 pools suggested that all of the N 2 formed had passed the N 2 O pool. This finding supported the earlier suggestion that N 2 O is an obligatory intermediate in the dissimilatory reduction of nitrate to N 2 . Due to a likely occurrence of nonenzymatic isotopic exchange between NO and nitrate, the technique used was considered unreliable to study the nature of NO as a possible intermediate in the sequence of nitrate reduction. However, qualitative observations indicated that NO was not a free, obligatory intermediate. Reduction of nitrate was strongly inhibited by the presence of NO. Reduction of N 2 O to N 2 was significantly retarded by the presence of nitrate. The length of the lag period increased as the initial nitrate concentration was increased.
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Nõmmik et al. (1984) studied this question.
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