Abstract
H2-oxidizing activities were assayed in slurries of four soils by measuring the consumption of H2 and the exchange of 3H2 with H2O at increasing mixing ratios of H2 or 3H2. Both H2 consumption and 3H2 exchange were abolished by autoclaving or the addition of formaldehyde. The rates of H2 consumption and 3H2 exchange were proportional to the quantity of soil used. Both activities increased with increasing concentrations of H2 or 3H2 and displayed biphasic kinetics, demonstrating the existence of two different H2-oxidizing activities, one with a relatively low K m and V max, and a second with a relatively high K m und V max. The first type of activity was characteristic of abiontic soil hydrogenases, and the second of aerobic H2-oxidizing bacteria. In contrast to H2 consumption, which required the presence of either O2 or ferricyanide, 3H2 exchange operated equally well without an external electron acceptor. The 3H2 exchange assay may thus be particularly useful for enrichment of soil hydrogenases which have not yet been isolated and for which no natural electron acceptor is known.
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Häring, V., Conrad, R. Demonstration of two different H2-oxidizing activities in soil using an H2 consumption and a tritium exchange assay. Biol Fertil Soils 17, 125–128 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00337744
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00337744