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Nitrate Reductase: A Magical Enzyme?

ing a process they licensed from Michigan Tech. Research and development of nitrate reductase-based products has been funded by Small Business Innovation Research grants from the EPA , USDA and the Michigan Department of Commerce.

Environmental testing for nitrate is often done with methods based on heavy metals like cadmium and zinc. Nitrate reductase-based nitrate testing replaces these older methods, which have potential to harm the environment, with an environmentally friendly method that is safer for the person doing the test and at the same time can be more accurate, according to Campbell. In addition, the Campbells' small company is doing research and development on an enzyme-based electronic detector for real-time continuous monitoring of nitrate in water and a method for removing nitrate from water using enzymes. The nitrate removal method could be used in homes and businesses with nitrate polluted water, which would make it fit to drink or use for the production of foods and beverages.

"We don't have a way to make enough of it to modify the enzyme's protein and change its amino acids," says Campbell, " and those are the kind of studies we need to do to understand how the protein part in nitrate reductase functions with its cofactors that include a flavin (vitamin b-2), heme iron (like in hemoglobin) and molybdopterin, which is also an essential cofactor for human health. All these components work together to catalyze the conversion of nitrate to nitrite but we don't know how it really works on the molecular level. That's what we want to find out."

In an attempt to overcome the scarcity factor, Campbell and other research groups like his are working to develop a process that will result in "recombinant" expression of the nitrate reductase gene and will provide scientists with the large amounts of the material they need for experiments.

"It's been a step-by-step process," explains Campbell. "When we first s
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Contact: Bill Campbell
wcampbel@mtu.edu
906-487-2214
Michigan Technological University
9-Mar-1998


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