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. 2008 Sep 27;14(3):179–182. doi: 10.1007/s12298-008-0017-z

Spirulina nitrate-assimilating enzymes (NR, NiR, GS) have higher specific activities and are more stable than those of rice

Ahmad Ali 1, Pamela Jha 1, Kuljeet Singh Sandhu 1, Nandula Raghuram 1,2,✉
PMCID: PMC3550616  PMID: 23572885

Abstract

Spirulina platensis, a cyanobacterium whose N-metabolic pathway is similar to that of higher plants like rice (Oryza sativa), produces tenfold more protein, indicating a higher capacity for nitrate utilization/removal. Our in vitro analyses in crude extracts revealed that this can be attributed, at least in part, to the higher specific activities (3–6 fold) and half lives (1.2–4.4 fold) of the N-assimilating enzymes, nitrate reductase (NR), nitrite reductase (NiR) and glutamine synthetase (GS) in Spirulina.

Key words: Nitrate reductase, Nitrite reductase, Glutamine synthetase, Spirulina platensis, Oryza sativa

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Footnotes

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12298-009-0022-x.

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