Molecular mechanism of anaerobic ammonium oxidation

Anammox, or anaerobic ammonium oxidation, is one of two important microbial processes that recycle fixed nitrogen back to the atmosphere. Less well studied than the other process (denitrification), anammox converts ammonia and nitrite into dinitrogen (N2) gas. The complete biochemical and enzymatic mechanism of anammox has now been established. Nitric oxide and hydrazine are intermediate products in a pathway that involves three key enzymes nitrite reductase, hydrazine synthase and hydrazine oxidoreductase.