Utilization of Ammonia Nitrogen by Intestinal Bacteria Isolated from Pigs

Abstract

In a medium containing ammonia, proteose peptone, and cysteine as nitrogen sources, 17 of 24 Bacteroidaceae strains, 3 of 3 Selenomonas strains, 1 of 7 curved rods, 3 of 7 Spirochaetaceae strains, 8 of 20 Eubacterium strains, 8 of 13 Peptococcaceae strains, 3 of 4 Clostridium strains, 19 of 20 Enterobacteriaceae strains, and 1 of 8 Streptococcus strains utilized ammonia nitrogen preferentially to proteose peptone nitrogen. To determine the ability of intestinal microbes to synthesize amino acids from ammonia, ammonia utilization by Bacteroides ruminicola strain 9 was studied in defined media containing ammonia and other nitrogen sources. In another medium containing ammonia, proteose peptone, and cysteine as nitrogen sources, ammonia was preferentially utilized even when the proteose peptone nitrogen content was eight times greater than that of ammonia nitrogen. In a medium containing ammonia, an amino acid, and cysteine, the lowest uptake of ammonia nitrogen was observed when the medium contained aspartic acid, glutamic acid, threonine, or alanine; but ammonia was utilized more effectively than any of the amino acids. Incorporation of '5N from [15N]ammonia into bacterial amino acids was studied. '5N was incorporated into every amino acid of B. ruminicola strain 9, and the highest uptake was observed in aspartic acid and alanine.

Evaluation of the 15N-isotope dilution technique for determining the recovery of endogenous protein in ileal digesta of pigs: effect of the pattern of blood sampling, precursor pools, and isotope dilution technique.

“…Furthermore, bacteria can utilize nonprotein N for the de novo synthesis of amino acids. Because nonprotein 15 N is not uniformly incorporated into all bacterial amino acids (Takahashi et al, 1980;Takahashi and Kametaka, 1986), they possess the ability to alter enrichments in endogenous amino acids, which may not be accurately reflected in the enrichments in plasma amino acids. However, there were no differences between enrichments in N ( P = .14) and amino acids ( P > .30) in digesta and bacteria (Table 2).…”

The influences of low protein diet on the intestinal microbiota of mice

“…Among these OTUs, 6 OTUs including E. ludwigii, M. maritypicum, C. amalonaticus, C. stationis, S. lentus and S. nepalensis have been previously reported to have ureases, the enzymes catalyzing the hydrolysis of urea into carbon dioxide and ammonia [18][19][20][21][22][23] . It was reported that urea in the gastrointestinal tract excreted from epithelial cells is cleaved into ammonia and carbon dioxide when sufficient urease is produced by intestinal bacteria 24 , and some bacteria utilize ammonia to produce amino acids and peptides 25 . The host can absorb either the amino acids or the peptides synthesized by the bacteria.…”

Effects of Nitrogen on the Bacterial Microbiome Community of Oocystis borgei, an Alga Widely Used in Marine Aquaculture

“…Aerobic bacteria and chemoheterotrophic bacteria compete with microalgae for oxygen and nutrients [37]. For example, due to the preference of bacteria for utilizing ammonium nitrogen as a nitrogen source [38], bacteria from the family Rhodobacteraceae play a crucial role in nitrogen removal and denitrification processes, and this leads to more prominent denitrification and nitrogen metabolism function in the epibiotic environment, which is beneficial for the rapid uptake of ammonium nitrogen and the decomposition of nitrate nitrogen [39], which is in accordance with the results of O. borgei to effectively absorb ammonium. In contrast to competitive interactions, Algoriphagus can form a synergistic relationship with O. borgei and promote the accumulation of chlorophyll a [40].…”