Oxidation of Pyruvic-Oxime by Soil Organisms

Biochemistry of Nitrification in Soil

“…Since the later nineteenth century this assumption has been the subject of much discussion but comparatively little experiment. Some idea of the course of this discussion may be obtained from a few of the papers (8,9,12,17,23,25,27,29,34,37,42,51,53,58,61,62,68,70,71) on the subject and from some of the reviews (6,34,37,67). Later work divides organic inhibitors into two broad categories, i.e., those that produce a specific inhibitory action on the nitrifying organisms at concentrations of 0.01 M or less, and those that produce inhibitions only at very high concentrations.…”

“…Hydroxylamine has long been suggested (31) as a potential intermediate in the oxidation of ammonia but no conclusive proof of its presence has been reported. Recently, however, it has been shown (51,53) that combined hydroxylamine may be oxidized directly to nitrite. Meyerhof's early studies (42) on the respiratory activities of the nitrifying bacteria throw light on many factors influencing the metabolism of these organisms, and have to be borne in mind in the interpretation of the phenomena of soil nitrification.…”

“…Since then the apparatus has been simplified (4,33) and it is the simplified versions which are in use today. Several reports (5,14,24,32,34,35,36,37,38,51,52,53,60) on the use of this type of apparatus have already appeared and it seems that the soil perfusion technique fulfills many of the requirements required in a fresh approach to the problems of nitrification.…”

A Survey of Heterotrophic Micro-Organisms from Soil for Ability to Form Nitrite and Nitrate

“…Study of the transformations of pyruvic acid oxime in soil led Quastel & Scholefield (1949) to conclude that heterotrophic forms, rather than autotrophic nitrifying bacteria, oxidized the oxime to nitrite. Several bacteria, identified as belonging to two species of Achromobacter and one species of Corynebacterium, were reported later to be responsible for this transformation (Quastel, Scholefield & Stevenson, 1950, 1952 A new species of actinomycete, Streptomyces nitriJcans, was described for its ability to oxidize ethylurethane to nitrite Isenberg et al 1954). The quantity of nitrite formed was extremely small; cultures grown for 68 days on 0.2% (w/v) ethylurethane produced only about 0.07 pg.…”

Chemolithoautotrophic Bacteria

“…was found to oxidize pyruvic oxime externally added to form nitrite (Quastel et al, 1952). was found to oxidize pyruvic oxime externally added to form nitrite (Quastel et al, 1952).…”