ABSTRACT
Time course studies of rho-nitroanisole O-demethylation revealed formaldehyde production in excess of rho-nitrophenol (PNP) and 4-nitrocatechol (NTC) formation by rat liver microsomes. This indicated that these products (PNP, NTC) were metabolised further. The hydroxylation reaction PNP yields NTC showed substrate and product inhibition and a requirement for reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate and O2 and was localized in liver microsomes. It was strongly activated by ascorbic acid, cysteine, adenosine triphosphate or hydroxylamine in vitro and enhanced by phenobarbital treatment in vivo. Mercapturic derivatives were metabolized to the corresponding hydroxy compounds with the same speed as their parent compounds. Both PNP and NTC were metabolized to the corresponding glucuronide and sulfate conjugates. On the other hand, the PNP or NTC glucuronides and sulfates were metabolized with liver microsomes to PNP and NTC.
Subject(s)
Catechols/biosynthesis , Microsomes, Liver/metabolism , Nitrophenols/metabolism , Adenosine Triphosphate/metabolism , Animals , Chromatography, Thin Layer , Cysteine/analogs & derivatives , In Vitro Techniques , NADP/metabolism , Nitro Compounds/biosynthesis , Organ Specificity , Rats , Sulfhydryl Compounds/chemical synthesis , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Arthrobacter sp. isolated from sewage oxidized ammonium to hydroxylamine, a bound hydroxylamine compound, a hydroxamic acid, a substance presumed to be a primary nitro compound, nitrite, and nitrate. The concentration of free hydroxylamine-nitrogen reached 15 mug/ml. The identification of hydroxylamine was verified by mass spectrometric analysis of its benzophenone oxime derivative. The bound hydroxylamine was tentatively identified as 1-nitrosoethanol on the basis of its mass spectrum, chemical reactions, and infrared and ultraviolet spectra. Hydroxylamine formation by growing cells was relatively independent of pH, but the accumulation of nitrite was strongly favored in alkaline solutions. The formation of hydroxylamine but not nitrite was regulated by the carbon to nitrogen ratio of the medium. The hydroxamic acid was the dominant product of nitrification in iron-deficient media, but hydroxylamine, nitrite, and 1-nitrosoethanol formation was favored in iron-rich solutions. Heterotrophic nitrification by Arthrobacter sp. was not inhibited by several compounds at concentrations which totally inhibited autotrophic nitrification.
