The Influence of Oxygen on Nitrite Reduction in a Reconstituted System

Abstract Data regarding the role of oxygen in nitrite reduction are presented. In an NADPH-generating system including homogeneously purified ferredoxin-NADP reductase, ferredoxin (or flavodoxin) and nitrite reductase from the alga Bumilleriopsis filiformis, oxygen and nitrite can be reduced simultaneously. In air, rates of 1.2 μmol nitrite reduced· min-1· mg -1 nitrite reductase are obtained, which are physiologically feasible. Ferredoxin is inhibited non-competitively by oxygen during nitrite reduction. Oxygen uptake due to the oxidase reaction of ferredoxin-NADP reductase mediated by flavodoxin from Chlorella fusca and ferredoxin from Bumilleriopsis involves superoxide and is inhibited by the nitrite reducing system.