Spectrophotometric and kinetic study of nitrite and formate oxidation in Nitrobacter winogradskyi.

The reduction levels of cytochrome c and a(1) in intact Nitrobacter cells and cell-free extracts, during and after nitrite or formate oxidation, were examined in combination with the amperometric measurement of oxygen uptake. Quite different reduction patterns were observed when comparing nitrite oxidation by intact cells and cell-free extracts. An inverse relationship was observed between the rate of electron flow and the steady-state reduction level of cytochrome a(1). Parallel observations on nitrite oxidation, by use of formate and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide as electron donors, showed the influence of the high oxidation-reduction potential of the nitrite-nitrate system on cytochrome reduction. A value for the apparent activation energy of the overall nitrite oxidation process, amounting to 15 kcal, was found in a study of the temperature dependence of cytochrome reduction.