Influence of nickel on the detection of nitrate reductase activity in sorghum extracts.

The addition of nickel (4 x 10(-3)m) to the extracting buffer enhances the nitrate reductase activity in preparations of young grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. [Moench] leaf tissue by as much as 6-fold. Activities comparable to other plant species are obtained over an extraction pH range of 7 to 8 with tris buffer and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide as a cofactor for the reaction when the ratio of plant material to extraction medium is 1:20. The method also enhances nitrate reductase activity in sudangrass (Sorghum sudanense P. [Stapf]).