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The biological nitrogen cycle involves step-wise reduction of nitrogen oxides to ammonium salts and oxidation of ammonia back to nitrites and nitrates by plants and bacteria. Neither process has been thought to have relevance to mammalian physiology; however in recent years the salivary bacterial reduction of nitrate to nitrite has been recognized as an important metabolic conversion in humans. Several enteric bacteria have also shown the ability of catalytic reduction of nitrate to ammonia  via  nitrite during dissimilatory respiration; however, the importance of this pathway in bacterial species colonizing the human intestine has been little studied. We measured nitrite, nitric oxide (NO) and ammonia formation in cultures of  Escherichia coli ,  Lactobacillus  and  Bifidobacterium  species grown at different sodium nitrate concentrations and oxygen levels. We found that the presence of 5 mM nitrate provided a growth benefit and induced both nitrite and ammonia generation in  E.coli  and  L.plantarum  bacteria grown at oxygen concentrations compatible with the content in the gastrointestinal tract. Nitrite and ammonia accumulated in the growth medium when at least 2.5 mM nitrate was present. Time-course curves suggest that nitrate is first converted to nitrite and subsequently to ammonia. Strains of  L.rhamnosus ,  L.acidophilus  and  B.longum infantis  grown with nitrate produced minor changes in nitrite or ammonia levels in the cultures. However, when supplied with exogenous nitrite, NO gas was readily produced independently of added nitrate. Bacterial production of lactic acid causes medium acidification that in turn generates NO by non-enzymatic nitrite reduction. In contrast, nitrite was converted to NO by  E.coli  cultures even at neutral pH. We suggest that the bacterial nitrate reduction to ammonia, as well as the related NO formation in the gut, could be an important aspect of the overall mammalian nitrate/nitrite/NO metabolism and is yet another way in which the microbiome links diet and health.

Nitrate Reduction to Nitrite, Nitric Oxide and Ammonia by Gut Bacteria under Physiological Conditions