Reduced nicotinamide–adenine dinucleotide–nitrite reductase from Azotobacter chroococcum

1. The assimilatory nitrite reductase of the N2-fixing bacterium Azotobacter chroococcum was prepared in a soluble form from cells grown aerobically with nitrate as the nitrogen source, and some of its properties have been studied. 2. The enzyme is a FAD-dependent metalloprotein (mol.wt. about 67000), which stoicheiometrically catalyses the direct reduction of nitrite to NH3 with NADH as the electron donor. 3. NADH–nitrite reductase can exist in two either active or inactive interconvertible forms. Inactivation in vitro can be achieved by preincubation with NADH. Nitrite can specifically protect the enzyme against this inactivation and reverse the process once it has occurred. 4. A. chroococcum nitrite reductase is an adaptive enzyme whose formation depends on the presence of either nitrate or nitrite in the nutrient solution. 5. Tungstate inhibits growth of the microorganism very efficiently, by competition with molybdate, when nitrate is the nitrogen source, but does not interfere when nitrite or NH3 is substituted for nitrate. The addition of tungstate to the culture media results in the loss of nitrate reductase activity but does not affect nitrite reductase.