Question

Differentiate between Nitryfying and Denitryfying Bacteria.

Answer 1

Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for living organisms, and it is of great importance that the available nitrogen is well balanced and recycled in order to be used by living organisms. Nitrogen exists in its natural diatomic form (N2), which cannot be absorbed by plants for their biological functions. The process of oxidizing fixed diatomic nitrogen into nitrates and nitrites is called nitrification; this is most often done by bacterial species which can utilize nitrogen in its fixed form. In order to maintain the nitrogen balance in the atmosphere, diatomic nitrogen should be produced through a recycling mechanism, where the nitrates and nitrites are reduced back to diatomic nitrogen by bacterial species. This process is termed as denitrification. Thus, bacteria involved in these two processes are characterized as nitrifying bacteria and denitrifying bacteria. The key difference between nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria is that nitrifying bacteria are capable of oxidizing available ammonia to nitrate and nitrite whereas denitrifying bacteria are capable of reducing nitrates and nitrites to its naturally occurring diatomic form nitrogen gas.

Answer 2

Answer:

The key difference between nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria is that nitrifying bacteria are capable of oxidizing available ammonia to nitrate and nitrite whereas denitrifying bacteria are capable of reducing nitrates and nitrites to its naturally occurring diatomic form nitrogen gas.