Table 2.

Common pathogenic organisms, nitrate and nitrite reductases and relationship to NO (uk = unknown, nh = no homologue, na = not applicable)

Organism	Disease	Nitrate reductase	Nitrite reductase	End product	Relationship to NO
Bacillus anthracis	Anthrax	NarG	NirA, NasB	NH3	Makes NO by NOS66
Bordetella pertussis	Whooping cough	−nh-	−nh-	−na-	−uk-
Borrelia burgdorferi	Lyme disease	−nh-	−nh-	−na-	−uk-
Campylobacter jejuni	Gastroenteritis, reactive arthritis	NapA	NrfA	NH3	Not sensitive to NO320
Chlamydia trachomatis	STD, eye infections	−nh-	−nh-	−na-	NO sensitive321
Clostridium botulinum	Botulism	−nh-	NirA	NH3	NO sensitive53
Clostridium difficile	Pseudomembranous colitis	−nh-	NirA	NH3	Makes NO63
Escherichia coli	Diarrhea	NarG, NarZ, NapA	Nrf, Nir	NH3, NO	NO detoxification via Nrf322
Haemophilus influenzae	Respiratory disease	NapA	NrfA	−uk-	−uk-
Helicobacter pylori	Gastric cancer and ulcer	−nh-	−nh-	−na-	Killed by nitrite and NO323
Helicobacter hepaticus	Diarrhea	NapA	Nrf	NH3	−uk-
Legionella pneumophila	Legionnaires disease, ventilator-associated pneumonia	−nh-	−nh-	−na-	Killed by NO324
Listeria monocytogenes	Listeriosis	−nh-	−nh-	−na-	−uk-
Mycobacterium tuberculosis	Tuberculosis	NarG	NirBD	NH3	Resistant to NO70,71
Neisseria gonorrhoeae	STD	−nh-	NirB, NirK	NO	Resistant to NO24,325
Neisseria meningitidis	Bacterial meningitis	−nh-	NirB	NO	Makes NO
Pseudomonas aeruginosa	Lung infection	NapA, NarG, NasA	NirBD, NasB	NH3, NO	Makes NO326
Rickettsia rickettsii	Spotted fever, typhus	−nh-	−nh-	−na-	−uk-
Salmonella typhimurium	Salmonellosis	NapA, NarG, NarZ	Nrf, Nir	NH3, NO	−uk-
Shigella dysenteriae	Shigellosis, dysentery	NapA, NarG, NarZ	Nrf, NirB	NH3, NO	−uk-
Staphylococcus aureus	Boils sinusitis, food poisoning	NarG	NasD	NH3	Makes NO
Streptococcus pneumoniae	Bacterial meningitis	−nh-	−nh-	−na-	−uk-
Vibrio cholera	Cholera, diarrhea	NapA	−nh-	−uk-	Makes NO
Yersinia pestis	Pneumonic, septicemia, bubonic plague	NapA	NirBD	NH3	Sensitive