The Importance of itrogen in the Growth and Development of Plants

The major human activities that today influence the global nitrogen cycle are fossil fuel combustion, the production and use of chemical fertilizer, and the growing of

Cellular respiration is a very important process that occurs in all living organisms. In this process, chemical energy is obtained by the organisms’ food source to be turned into ATP or adenosine triphosphate, a form of energy that is easily utilized by the organisms’ bodies to carry out certain bodily functions (Largen, 2008, p.41). The chemical formula for cellular respiration is C6H12O6+6O2+6H2O→6CO2+12H2O+energy. This simply means that, with the use of glucose, six molecules of oxygen, and six molecules of water, an output of six carbon dioxide molecules, twelve molecules of water, and energy (ATP) is produced (Khan, 2010). Glucose is especially important in this process, given that it acts as a fuel in cellular respiration. (Cellular Respiration: Introduction, n.d.). In the biosphere, there is also a vast

and using that to produce ATP in a very fast and inefficient way. The Chemical equations are as

During World War 1 scientists discovered a process which involved taking the nitrogen from the air and turning it into usable ammonia. Most of the ammonia acquired by this process has been used as fertiliser. Upon evaporation, the ammonia proceeds to turning into acid rain. A few attempts have been made to control agricultural nitrogen emissions however, no steps have been taken to regulate agricultural ammonia emissions. Ammonia emissions also come from animal feeding operations. When the ammonia rises into the air and then falls back to the ground, it is broken into nitric and nitrogen acids which can kill plants and fish.

One of the many grand challenges of engineering considered by the National Academy of Engineering is the management of nitrogen cycle. Indeed, nitrogen is the most common gas in the atmosphere and is

It’s great when used in fertilizers because it helps the plants grow faster and healthier. It is often used by farmers because of these qualities. The concentration of ammonia released from Ammonium Nitrate fertilizer isn’t high enough to cause direct environmental or human health outdoors, but when in a small enclosed area, the concentration can accumulate to toxic levels (Reid, 2005). However, there can be some environmental hazards as well. When nitrogen leaves the root zone, it can affect the water in the surrounding area, both in the ground and on the surface. Eutrophication can also occur if not careful. Eutrophication is when runoff from the land, usually a farm that uses Ammonium Nitrate fertilizer, causes excessive richness of nutrients in and surrounding a lake. This causes dense growth of plant life and animals won’t live there because of lack of oxygen. It was recognized as a pollution problem in European and North American lakes and reservoirs in the mid-20th century (ScienceDaily, 2015) Also, it can have bad health hazards connected with it. Inhalation of high concentration of its dust can cause sublethal effects such as sore throat, coughing, irritation of the respiratory tract, and can cause methemoglobinemia- a blood disorder in which there is an abnormal amount of methemoglobin, a form of hemoglobin, is produced. Hemoglobin is the protein in red blood cells that

NAS is the first enzyme involved in the anabolic pathway of nitrogen assimilation. The bacterial NAS can be grouped into at least three subgroups, typified by the enzymes from Synechococcus sp. PCC7942, Klebsiella oxytoca and Bacillus subtilis. These systems differ in the nature and number of electron transfer cofactors bound by the catalytic bis-MGD subunit and by the nature of the probable electron donors to each enzyme (Moreno-Vivia et al., 1999). Two classes of assimilatory nitrate reductases are found in bacteria: the ferredoxin- or flavodoxin-dependent NAS and the NADH-dependent enzyme, the classification of which is based on the cofactor structure. Both types of NAS contain MGD cofactor and one N-terminal iron-sulfur cluster but are

In recent decades humans have been playing an increasingly large role in the nitrogen cycle. Not all of the ways humans have been affecting the cycle have been negative, but the vast majority have been. One key thing that has human activity that has been disrupting the nitrogen cycle is the burning of fossil fuel. This burning releases carbon into the air at unnatural rate, and thus alters the amount of nitrogen in the atmosphere. This has had far reaching effects that no one first thought of and is now affecting the plant and animals in Acadia National Park. Another human activity that has increased massively over the past few years is industrial nitrogen fixation. This process is used to create fertilizer with high amount of nitrogen in it.

Nutrients are very important to the life of many species, and are continuously cycled through the biogeochemical cycles with the help of plants and animals. Nitrogen is a required nutrient in plants because it is needed for chlorophyll and DNA (Aber 1992). Phosphorus gives energy to animals. Working in unison the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles move nutrients throughout soil into plants, microbes, and animals, and then back into the soil once the animals die (Pellerin 2006). The carbon cycle plays a critical role in forest watersheds, because it makes up all organisms, such as bacteria and humans. The carbon cycle aids in photosynthesis, which is very important to plants in a watershed. The carbon and oxygen cycles work in unison during photosynthesis and in the decomposition of plants. When working in harmony the

The enzyme is a tetrameter comprised of subunits of 500 amino acids each, containing a heme (a prosthetic group containing an iron center). This structure is similar to that of the hemoglobin, also an important protein required for life.2 This experiment seeks to investigate the kinetics of catalase action, as well as factors that influence the rate of catalysis, including pH and the activation energy of the enzyme. Additionally, a protein assay used to determine the concentration of the catalase as well a ferrozine assay seeks to determine and detect the amount of enzyme- bound iron in catalase. The specific goals for the experiment are as follows: (1) Investigate the enzyme activity of catalase through studying the decomposition of hydrogen

Both the nitrogen and phosphorus global cycles have considerably changed due to the added amounts by humans. The manufacturing of fertilizer releases about 120 million tonnes of nitrogen gas into the atmosphere each year. Majority of this nitrogen pollutes the environment. This slowly corrodes the pliability of Earth’s subsystems. By this study we have decided that the amount of nitrogen gas removed from the atmosphere for human use cannot surpass 35 millions of tonnes per year.

The four cycles important to ecosystem are water, carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorous. The Water cycle describes the movement of water on Earth through evaporation, transpiration, condensation and precipitation. Carbon cycle is crucial for all organic living organisms. Carbon is produced by combustion of wood and burning of fossil fuels, which plants then take in; animals eat plants and exhale carbon dioxide, which is one-way carbon, is placed in the atmosphere. An additional source of carbon is the ocean floor absorbs carbon sediments and when they move a volcanic eruption occurs and releases carbon dioxide gas during an eruption as well as decomposition of plant and animals, which return carbon to sediments. After millions of years, these sediments create fossil fuel or oil which when burnt returns carbon to the atmosphere. Carbon is truly a co-dependent cycle. Photosynthesis removes carbon from the atmosphere and exhaling returns it to the atmosphere. Nitrogen cycle is a natural process where nitrogen passes through air to soil to organisms through a process of nitrogen fixation and denitrification. Nitrogen is important, as it is useful in the production of amino acids, protein, and nucleic acids. It is the most abundant. Phosphate is essential to cell membranes, human bones, teeth, and plant life. Phosphorous is minimally in the atmosphere as dust particles .Plants absorb phosphate thru the soil animals eat the plants and via decomposition or waste phosphate is

Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are some of the most essential macronutrients due to their important role in plant growth and function, which plants take up through their roots. When these key macronutrients become depleted in agricultural soils, crops can become stressed, malnourished, and ultimately cause yields to become significantly lower (Sanchez 2002:2019). The following effects that nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium have on plants were reported by Shin et. al. (2005:1350):

Ammonia is most likely to injure plants if you don't known what you're doing. Using ammonia is especially risky if you're unaware of the pH of the soil and water that you're using, and if you don't know the exact concentration of ammonia that you're applying. Concentrations as low as 3.5 parts per million are toxic to seedlings. (See References 2, p. 25) Also, according to the University of California, applying ammonia too close to the plant and not deep enough can also result in plant injury. (See References 4) You might be better off and more successful when using a commercial fertilizer to promote plant growth.

An ATP molecule consists of adenosine and three (tri) inorganic phosphate groups. When a molecule of ATP is combined with water (a process called hydrolysis), the last phosphate group splits away and releases energy. The molecule of adenosine triphosphate now becomes adenosine diphosphate or ADP (2).