Name: nitrogen cycle in soil and plants
Uploaded: 2023-04-30T10:06:17.000Z
Duration: 1 min 20 s
Channel: JoVE

K12 Standards

new-york-state-science-learning-standards

New York State Science Learning Standards

High School

Life Science

matter-and-energy-in-organisms-and-ecosystems

Matter and Energy in Organisms and Ecosystems

HS-LS1-6.

Overview of Nitrogen Metabolism

Atmospheric nitrogen is the largest source of nitrogen. However, most living organisms cannot directly take up atmospheric nitrogen because of the strong triple bond between the nitrogen atoms, which makes it relatively unreactive.
Therefore nitrogen-fixing bacteria present in the soil convert atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, a biologically useful form.
Ammonia can be taken up by plant cells, where it combines with glutamate to produce glutamine, which is further converted into other amino acids and nucleotides.
Later, animals consume these plants and use the amino acids to synthesize their own proteins and nucleotides.
Since animals cannot store large pools of amino acids, the ingested amino acids are regularly broken down via the urea cycle into urea.
Urea is then excreted through urine, which eventually goes back into the soil.
Later, the soil bacteria with urease activity degrade the excreted urea into ammonia. Finally, the nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria convert ammonia into gaseous nitrogen, returning it to the atmosphere.

overview of nitrogen metabolism

Nitrogen is a very important element for life because it is a major constituent of proteins and nucleic acids. It is a macronutrient, and in nature, it is recycled from organic compounds and stored in the form of&#160; ammonia, ammonium ions, nitrate, nitrite, or&#160; nitrogen gas by many metabolic processes. Many of these metabolic processes are carried out only by prokaryotes.
The largest pool of nitrogen available in the terrestrial ecosystem is gaseous nitrogen (N2) from the air, but this nitrogen is not usable by plants, which are the primary producers of the ecosystem. Gaseous nitrogen is transformed, or &#34;fixed&#34;&#160;into more readily available forms, such as ammonia (NH3), through the process of nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria include Azotobacter in soil and the ubiquitous photosynthetic cyanobacteria. Some nitrogen fixing bacteria, like Rhizobium, live in symbiotic relationships in the roots of legumes. Another source of ammonia is ammonification, the process by which ammonia is released during the decomposition of nitrogen-containing organic compounds. The ammonium ion is progressively oxidized by different species of bacteria in a process called nitrification. The nitrification process begins with the conversion of ammonium to nitrite (NO2-), and continues with the conversion of nitrite to nitrate. Nitrification in soils is carried out by bacteria belonging to the genera Nitrosomas, Nitrobacter, and Nitrospira. Most nitrogen in soil is in the form of ammonium (NH4+) or nitrate (NO3-). Ammonia and nitrate can be used by plants or converted to other forms.
Inside the plant cells, ammonia combines with glutamate to produce glutamine. The glutamine is then further converted into other amino acids and nucleotides. Later, animals consume these plants and use the amino acids to synthesize their own proteins and nucleotides. Since animals cannot store a large pool of amino acids, the ingested amino acids are regularly broken down inside the cells. But free ammonia released during amino acid catabolism is highly toxic to cells. So, excess ammonia is converted into a non-toxic form - urea &#8211; using a series of reactions called the urea cycle.&#160; Urea is then excreted out of the body through urine and eventually goes back into the soil. Later, soil bacteria use the enzyme urease to degrade the excreted urea into ammonia, which can again be taken up by the plants. In fact, when plants and animals die, their protein content is also degraded by the microbes to produce amino acids. The nitrifying microbes present in the soil convert these amino acids into nitrite and then into nitrate. Finally, the denitrifying bacteria, certain archaea, and some classes of fungi convert these nitrates back to gaseous nitrogen, thus returning nitrogen to the atmosphere.
This text is adapted from <a href="https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/22-5-beneficial-prokaryotes">Openstax, Biology 2e, Section 22.5: </a><a href="https://openstax.org/books/biology-2e/pages/22-5-beneficial-prokaryotes">Beneficial Prokaryotes</a>

Nitrogen is a very important element for life because it is a major constituent of proteins and nucleic acids. It is a macronutrient, and in nature, it is ...

Education

JoVE Core

Cell Biology

Unit 1

Introduction to Metabolism

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

nitrogen cycle in soil and plants

Nitrogen moves through soil, plants, animals, and microbes in a cycle that keeps this macronutrient available for life. It is a major part of proteins and nucleic acids, so cells need it to build both amino acids and nucleotides.

In nature, nitrogen is recycled from organic compounds and stored in several forms, including ammonia, ammonium ions, nitrate, nitrite, and nitrogen gas. Many of the key steps in this cycle are carried out only by prokaryotes. The largest nitrogen pool in terrestrial ecosystems is gaseous nitrogen from the air, but plants cannot use it directly.

Atmospheric nitrogen must first be fixed into a usable form, such as ammonia, through nitrogen fixation. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria include Azotobacter in soil and photosynthetic cyanobacteria. Some nitrogen-fixing bacteria, such as Rhizobium, live in the roots of legumes in a symbiotic relationship. Ammonia can also form through ammonification, which releases ammonia during the breakdown of nitrogen-containing organic compounds.

After that, ammonium is oxidized step by step in nitrification. The process starts when ammonium becomes nitrite and then continues when nitrite becomes nitrate. In soils, this work is done by bacteria in the genera Nitrosomas, Nitrobacter, and Nitrospira. Most nitrogen in soil is found as ammonium or nitrate, and plants can use these forms or convert them into others.

Inside plant cells, ammonia combines with glutamate to form glutamine. Glutamine is then converted into other amino acids and nucleotides. Animals eat these plants and use the amino acids to make their own proteins and nucleotides. Because animals cannot store a large pool of amino acids, they break them down regularly, and the ammonia released is highly toxic to cells.

To handle this toxicity, animals convert excess ammonia into urea through the urea cycle. Urea is non-toxic and leaves the body in urine. It then returns to the soil, where bacteria with urease break it down into ammonia again. When plants and animals die, microbes also degrade their proteins into amino acids, which are then converted by nitrifying microbes into nitrite and nitrate. Finally, denitrifying bacteria, certain archaea, and some fungi convert nitrate back to gaseous nitrogen, returning it to the atmosphere.

Nitrogen Cycle in Soil and Plants

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Nitrogen moves through soil, plants, animals, and microbes in a cycle that keeps this macronutrient available for life. It is a major part of proteins and nucleic acids, so cells need it to build both amino acids and nucleotides. In nature, nitrogen is recycled from organic compounds and stored in several forms, including ammonia, ammonium ions, nitrate, nitrite, and nitrogen gas. Many of the key steps in this cycle are carried out only by prokaryotes. The largest nitrogen pool in terrestrial...

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key terms and concepts

Trace how nitrogen is fixed, turned into ammonium and nitrate, used by plants and animals, and returned to the air by microbes in the soil.

Nitrogen Cycle in Soil and Plants | JoVE K12

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Nitrogen Cycle in Soil and Plants

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