【多选题】How is nitrate assimilated by nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase in microorganisms, plants, and the animals?
A.
More than 90% of the NH 4 + generated by vascular plants, algae, and microorganisms comes from nitrate assimilation, a two-step process.
B.
First NO 3 ˉ is reduced to NO 2 ˉ by nitrate reductase, then the NO 2 ˉ is reduced to NH 4 + in a six-electron transfer catalyzed by nitrite reductase.
C.
Nitrate reductase is a large, soluble protein (Mr 220,000). Within the enzyme, a pair of electrons, donated by NADH, flows through - SH groups of cysteine, FAD, and a cytochrome (cyt b 557 ), then to a novel cofactor containing molybdenum, before reducing the substrate NO 3 ˉ to NO 2 ˉ.
D.
Six electrons, donated one at a time by ferredoxin, pass through a 4Fe-4S center in the enzyme, then through a novel heme-like molecule (siroheme) before reducing NO 2 ˉ to NH 4 + . In nonphotosynthetic microbes, NADPH provides the electrons for this reaction.