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Reevaluation of Anaerobic Nitrite Production as an Index for the Measurement of Metabolic Pool of Nitrate ¹

Crop Science Section, Agriculture Canada Research Station, Harrow, Ontario NOR 1GO Canada

The use of anaerobic nitrite production as an index for the measurement of metabolic pool of nitrate was reevaluated using primary leaves of 7-day-old barley and 10-day-old soybean seedlings. The seedlings were grown in nutrient solutions containing 5 to 15 millimolar nitrate. The nitrate-free in vivo assay system of nitrate reductase was used for measuring the production of nitrite. Both the duration and extent of nitrite production were dependent on the level of endogenous nitrate in the tissue. At cessation of nitrite production, 30 to 50% of the endogenous nitrate was reduced to nitrite. Nitrate from the tissue leaked continuously into the surrounding medium so that, at cessation of nitrite production, nitrate supply from the tissue was exhausted. The cessation of nitrite production, therefore, may have been caused by the depletion of endogenous nitrate from the tissue. It is concluded that anaerobic nitrite production is not a valid index for the measurement of the size of the metabolic pool of nitrate.

¹ During these studies, the author was the recipient of a visiting Fellowship from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.