Abstract
The biological oxidations of ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate, collectively referred to as nitrification, are carried out in nature by two physiological groups of Gram-negative, chemolithotrophic bacteria. The organisms in both groups fix carbon dioxide via the Calvin cycle (Campbell, Hellebust, and Watson, 1966) for their major source of cell carbon and derive their energy and reducing power either from the oxidation of ammonia (ammonia-oxidizing bacteria) or nitrite (nitrite-oxidizing bacteria). With the exception of a few strains of Nitrobacter winogradskyi, which can be grown chemoheterotro-phically, the nitrifying bacteria are obligate chemo-lithotrophs.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Aleem, M. I. H., Alexander, M. 1958. Cell-free nitrification by Nitrobacter. Journal of Bacteriology 76:510–514.
Belser, L. W., Schmidt, E. L. 1978. Diversity in the ammonia-oxidizing nitrifier population of a soil. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 36:584–588.
Bendschneider, K., Robinson, R. J. 1952. A new spectrophoto-metric method for the determination of nitrite in sea water. Journal of Marine Research 11:87–96.
Campbell, A. E., Hellebust, J. A., Watson, S. W. 1966. Reductive pentose phosphate cycle in Nitrosocystis oceanus. Journal of Bacteriology 91:1178–1185.
Cohen-Bazire, G., Sistrom, W. R., Stanier, R. Y. 1957. Kinetics of pigment synthesis. Journal of Cellular and Comparative Physiology 49:25–68.
Harms, H., Koops, H.-R, Wehrmann, H. 1976. An ammonia-oxidizing bacterium, Nitrosovibrio tenuis, nov. gen. nov. sp. Archives of Microbiology 108:105–111.
Koops, H.-P., Harms, H., Wehrmann, H. 1976. Isolation of a moderate halophilic ammonia-oxidizing bacterium, Nitro-sococcus mobilis, nov. sp. Archives of Microbiology 107:277–282.
Matulewich, V. A., Strom, P. R, Finstein, M. S. 1975. Length of incubation for enumerating nitrifying bacteria present in various environments. Applied Microbiology 29:265–268.
Migula, W. 1900. System der Bakterien. Jena: Gustav Fischer Verlag.
Murray, R. G. E., Watson, S. W. 1965. Structure of Nitro-socystis oceanus and comparison with Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter. Journal of Bacteriology 89:1594–1609.
Soriano, S., Walker, N. 1968. Isolation of ammonia-oxidizing autotrophic bacteria. Journal of Applied Bacteriology 31:493–497.
Strickland, J. D. H., Parsons, T. R. 1972. Determination of reactive nitrate, pp. 71–76. In: A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Ottawa: Fisheries Research Board of Canada.
Watson, S. W. 1965. Characteristics of a marine nitrifying bacterium, Nitrosocystis oceanus sp. n. Limnology and Oceanography 10:R274-R289.
Watson, S. W. 1971a. Taxonomic considerations of the family Nitrobacteraceae Buchanan. International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology 21:254–270.
Watson, S. W. 1971b. Reisolation of Nitrosospira briensis S. Winogradsky and H. Winogradsky 1933. Archiv für Mikrobiologie 75:179–188.
Watson, S. W. 1974. Nitrobacteraceae, pp. 450–456. In: Buchanan, R. E., Gibbons, N. E. (eds.), Bergey’s manual of determinative bacteriology, 8th ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
Watson, S. W., Mandel, M. 1971. Comparison of the morphology and deoxyribonucleic acid composition of 27 strains of nitrifying bacteria. Journal of Bacteriology 107:563–569.
Watson, S. W., Remsen, C. C. 1969. Macromolecular subunits in the walls of marine nitrifying bacteria. Science 163:685–686.
Watson, S. W., Remsen, C. C. 1970. Cell envelope of Nitrosocystis oceanus. Journal of Ultrastructure Research 33:148–160.
Watson, S. W., Waterbury, J. B. 1971. Characteristics of two marine nitrite oxidizing bacteria, Nitrospina gracilis no v. gen. nov. sp. and Nitrococcus mobilis nov. gen. nov. sp. Archiv für Mikrobiologie 77:203–230.
Watson, S. W., Graham, L. B., Remsen, C. C., Valois, F. W. 1971. A lobular, ammonia-oxidizing bacterium, Nitrosolobus multiformis nov. gen. nov. sp. Archiv für Mikrobiologie 76:183–203.
Winogradsky, S. 1892. Contributions à la morphologie des organismes de la nitrification. Archives des Sciences Biologiques 1:86–137.
Winogradsky, S., Winogradsky, H. 1933. Études sur la microbiologie du sol. Nouvelles recherches sur les organismes de la nitrification. Annals de l’Institut Pasteur 50: 350–432.
Winslow, C.-E. A., Broadhurst, J., Buchanan, R. E., Krumwiede, C., Jr., Rogers, L. A., Smith, G. H. 1917. The families and genera of the bacteria. Preliminary report of the Committee of the Society of American Bacteriologists on characterization and classification of bacterial types. Journal of Bacteriology 2:505–566.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1981 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Watson, S.W., Valois, F.W., Waterbury, J.B. (1981). The Family Nitrobacteraceae. In: Starr, M.P., Stolp, H., Trüper, H.G., Balows, A., Schlegel, H.G. (eds) The Prokaryotes. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-13187-9_80
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-13187-9_80
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-13189-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-13187-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive