| ferredoxin—nitrate reductase | |
| Ec Number: | 1.7.7.2 |
| Cas Number: | 60382-69-6 |
| Go Code: | 0047889 |
In enzymology, a ferredoxin—nitrate reductase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
nitrite + H2O + 2 oxidized ferredoxin
\rightleftharpoons
The 3 substrates of this enzyme are nitrite, H2O, and oxidized ferredoxin, whereas its 3 products are nitrate, reduced ferredoxin, and H+. Nitrate Reductase is an essential enzyme present in most biological systems such as green plants, certain fungi, yeasts and bacteria that aids in the reduction of nitrate to ammonium.[1]
This enzyme belongs to the family of oxidoreductases, specifically those acting on other nitrogenous compounds as donors with an iron-sulfur protein as acceptor. The systematic name of this enzyme class is nitrite:ferredoxin oxidoreductase. Other names in common use include assimilatory nitrate reductase, nitrate (ferredoxin) reductase, and assimilatory ferredoxin-nitrate reductase. This enzyme participates in nitrogen metabolism. It has 4 cofactors: iron, Sulfur, Molybdenum, and Iron-sulfur. The Iron-Sulfur cluster ([4FE-4S]) in this enzyme has a variety of different functions that contribute to the growth of aerobic cells. Some of the functions include but are not limited to the following: involved in photosynthetic processes, electron-transfer reactions and the binding of certain substrates, resulting in activation.[2]
As of late 2007, only one structure has been solved for this class of enzymes, with the PDB accession code .