NITROGENCYCLE

Aug23,2015

Nitrogenisoneoftheprimarynutrientscriticalforthesurvivalofall
livingorganisms.Itisanecessarycomponentofmanybiomolecules,
including proteins, DNA, and chlorophyll. Although nitrogen is very
abundant in the atmosphere as dinitrogen gas (N2), it is largely
inaccessible in this form to most organisms, making nitrogen a
scarce resource and often limiting primary productivity in many
ecosystems. Only when nitrogen is converted from nitrogen gas
into ammonia (NH3) does it become available to primary
producers,suchasplants.
In addition to N2 and NH3, nitrogen exists in many different forms,
including both inorganic (e.g., ammonia, nitrate) and organic (e.g.,
amino and nucleic acids) forms. Thus, nitrogen undergoes many
different transformations in the ecosystem, changing from one form
to another as organisms use it for growth and, in some cases,
energy. The major transformations of nitrogen are nitrogen fixation,
nitrification, denitrification, anammox, and ammonification The
transformation of nitrogen into its many oxidation states is key to
productivity in the biosphere and is highly dependent on the
activities of a diverse assemblage of microorganisms, such as
bacteria,archaea,andfungi.
The movement of nitrogen between the atmosphere, biosphere,
andgeosphereindifferentformsiscalledthenitrogencycle,one
of the major biogeochemical cycles. Similar to the carbon cycle, the
nitrogen cycle consists of various reservoirs of nitrogen and
processesbywhichthosereservoirsexchangenitrogen

Source:http://tygae.weebly.com/

Processesinthenitrogencycle
Five main processes cycle nitrogen through the biosphere,
atmosphere, and geosphere nitrogen fixation, nitrogen uptake
through organismal growth, nitrogen mineralization through
decay,

nitrification,

and

denitrification.

Microorganisms,

particularly bacteria, play major roles in all of the principal nitrogen

transformations. Because these processes are microbially mediated,
or controlled by microorganisms, these nitrogen transformations
tend to occur faster than geological processes like plate motion, a
veryslow,purelyphysicalprocessthatisapartofthecarboncycle.
Instead, rates are affected by environmental factors that influence
microbial activity, such as temperature, moisture, and resource
availability.
MajorTransformationinNitrogenCycle

Source:Nature.com
1.

NitrogenFixation

The nitrogen molecule (N2) is quite inert. To break it apart so that

its atoms can combine with other atoms requires the input of
substantialamountsofenergy.
Three processes are responsible for most of the nitrogen fixation in
thebiosphere:

atmosphericfixationbylightning
biological fixation by certain microbes alone or in a
symbioticrelationshipwithsomeplantsandanimals

industrialfixation

AmosphericFixation
The enormous energy of lightning breaks nitrogen molecules and
enables their atoms to combine with oxygen in the air forming
nitrogen oxides. These dissolve in rain, forming nitrates, that are
carriedtotheearth.
Atmospheric nitrogen fixation probably contributes some 5 8% of
thetotalnitrogenfixed.
IndustrialFixation
Under great pressure, at a temperature of 600C, and with the use
of a catalyst, atmospheric nitrogen and hydrogen (usually derived
from natural gas or petroleum) can be combined to form ammonia
(NH3). Ammonia can be used directly as fertilizer, but most of its is
furtherprocessedtoureaandammoniumnitrate(NH4NO3).
BiologicalFixation
The ability to fix nitrogen is found only in certain bacteria and
archaea. Some nitrogenfixing organisms are freeliving while
others are symbiotic nitrogenfixers, which require a close
association with a host to carry out the process. Most of the
symbiotic associations are very specific and have complex
mechanisms that help to maintain the symbiosis. For example, root
exudatesfromlegumeplants(e.g.,peas,clover,soybeans)serveas
a signal to certain species of Rhizobium, which are nitrogenfixing
bacteria. This signal attracts the bacteria to the roots, and a very
complex series of events then occurs to initiate uptake of the
bacteria into the root and trigger the process of nitrogen fixation in
nodulesthatformontheroots
2.

Nitrification

Nitrification is the process that converts ammonia to nitrite and

thentonitrateand is another important step in the global nitrogen
cycle. Most nitrification occurs aerobically and is carried out
exclusively by prokaryotes. There are two distinct steps of
nitrificationthatarecarriedoutbydistincttypesofmicroorganisms.
Thefirststepistheoxidationofammoniatonitrite,whichiscarried
out by microbes known as ammoniaoxidizers. Aerobic ammonia
oxidizers convert ammonia to nitrite via the intermediate
hydroxylamine, a process that requires two different enzymes,
ammoniamonooxygenaseandhydroxylamineoxidoreductase(Figure
4).Theprocessgeneratesaverysmallamountofenergyrelativeto
many other types of metabolism as a result, nitrosofiers are
notoriously very slow growers. Additionally, aerobic ammonia

oxidizers are also autotrophs, fixing carbon dioxide to produce

organic carbon, much like photosynthetic organisms, but using
ammoniaastheenergysourceinsteadoflight.
3.

Denitrification

The three processes above remove nitrogen from the atmosphere

andpassitthroughecosystems.
Denitrificationreducesnitratesandnitritestonitrogengas,thus
replenishing the atmosphere. In the process several intermediates
areformed:

nitricoxide(NO)
nitrous oxide (N2O)(a greenhouse gas 300 times as potent as
CO2)
nitrousacid(HONO)
In this agents are Bacteria. They live deep in soil and in
aquatic sediments where conditions are anaerobic. They use
nitrates as an alternative to oxygen for the final electron
acceptorintheirrespiration.

Ecological Implications of Human Alterations to the Nitrogen

Cycle
Many human activities have a significant impact on the nitrogen
cycle. Burning fossil fuels, application of nitrogenbased fertilizers,
and other activities can dramatically increase the amount of
biologically available nitrogen in an ecosystem. And because
nitrogen availability often limits the primary productivity of many
ecosystems, large changes in the availability of nitrogen can lead to
severe alterations of the nitrogen cycle in both aquatic and
terrestrial ecosystems. Industrial nitrogen fixation has increased
exponentially since the 1940s, and human activity has doubled the
amountofglobalnitrogenfixation
In terrestrial ecosystems, the addition of nitrogen can lead to
nutrientimbalanceintrees,changesinforesthealth,anddeclinesin
biodiversity. With increased nitrogen availability there is often a
change in carbon storage, thus impacting more processes than just
the nitrogen cycle. In agricultural systems, fertilizers are used
extensively to increase plant production, but unused nitrogen,
usually in the form of nitrate, can leach out of the soil, enter
streams and rivers, and ultimately make its way into our drinking
water. The process of making synthetic fertilizers for use in
agriculture by causing N2 to react with H2, known as the Haber
Bosch process, has increased significantly over the past several

decades. In fact, today, nearly 80% of the nitrogen found in human

tissuesoriginatedfromtheHaberBoschprocess
Much of the nitrogen applied to agricultural and urban areas
ultimately enters rivers and near shore coastal systems. In near
shoremarinesystems,increasesinnitrogencanoftenleadtoanoxia
(no oxygen) or hypoxia (low oxygen), altered biodiversity, changes
infoodwebstructure,andgeneralhabitatdegradation.Onecommon
consequence of increased nitrogen is an increase in harmful algal
blooms Toxic blooms of certain types of dinoflagellates have been
associatedwithhighfishandshellfishmortalityinsomeareas.Even
without such economically catastrophic effects, the addition of
nitrogencanleadtochangesinbiodiversityandspeciescomposition
that may lead to changes in overall ecosystem function. Some have
evensuggestedthatalterationstothenitrogencyclemayleadtoan
increased risk of parasitic and infectious diseases among humans
andwildlife(Johnsonetal.2010).Additionally,increasesinnitrogen
in aquatic systems can lead to increased acidification in freshwater
ecosystems.