Nitrogen is one of the important chemicals on Earth and is present in all the living beings basically in the form of amino acids, nucleic acids and protein. It exists in the molecular form as N2 and in the form of some of the oxides in the atmosphere. But the aerial nitrogen is chemically inert and cannot be used in its pure form by the majority of organisms as it is the most abundant component of air i.e., 78%.
First, nitrogen needs to be converted into nitrates i.e., NO3- for the use of plants. This conversion can be done either by industrial nitrogen fixation i.e., basically manufacturing of ammonium salts and urea or chemical fertilisers or simply just by some of the nitrogen fixing bacteria like "azotobactor" which occurs freely in soil or "rhizobium" which occurs in root nodules of leguminous plants such as pea, gram, bean, etc, which converts the atmospheric nitrogen into water soluble nitrates. (The process of biofixation of nitrogen is known as nitrogen fixation.)
During lightning, the nitrogen of atmosphere reacts with the oxygen to form dilute nitric acid. This acid comes down to Earth with rainwater. Nitrates are absorbed by plants into their system and utilised for making organic matter such as proteins, etc. When animals consume plant matter, they break down the plant's nitrogenous compounds and then they use them to form new animal proteins as well as some other cell components.
After an animal excretes, the waste products known as the urea or uric acid or mailny after an animal or even plant dies, certain bacteria carry ammonification i.e., they produce ammonium ions (NH4+) from nitrogen-containing molecules. Plants can then assimilate this ammonium ion themselves or some other bacteria helps them by changing it to nitrate (NO3-) by nitrification. Some of the nitrates produced in this way are taken by the plants. (The process of ammonia formation is called ammonification.)
Some microorganisms like "nitrosomonas" and/or "nitrobacter" convert ammonia into nitrates. (This process is known as nitrification.) There are some other bacteria mainly decomposers for example, pseudomonas which reduce nitrates back to nitrogen or to ammonia or to some other oxides. (This process is called denitrification.)
At last, free nitrogen returns to the atmospheric pool and oxides are taken up by plants.
Nitrogen cycle is called a "perfect cycle" in the biosphere as it maintains the over all amount of nitrogen constant in atmosphere, soil as well as in water.
We are generally under the impression that we only need oxygen to live. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong! There is a laundry list of elements that animals need for survival. One such element is Nitrogen. But we can’t just get nitrogen from the air. It needs to be converted to nitrates, via a process called nitrogen cycle. So let us learn more about this fascinating concept.
The air we breathe contains 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and remaining are other trace gases. The nitrogen component of air is inert. So this means plants and animals cannot use it directly. To be able to use nitrogen, plants convert atmospheric nitrogen to nitrates, nitrites and ammonia compounds by a process called the nitrogen cycle. Animals derive their nitrogen requirements from plants.
Explanation:
Nitrogen cycle consists of four main steps namely:
Nitrogen Fixation
Ammonification/ Decay
Nitrification
De-nitrification
It is important to note that microorganisms play an important role in each of these steps.
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Explain the Nitrogen Cycle.
Nitrogen is one of the important chemicals on Earth and is present in all the living beings basically in the form of amino acids, nucleic acids and protein. It exists in the molecular form as N2 and in the form of some of the oxides in the atmosphere. But the aerial nitrogen is chemically inert and cannot be used in its pure form by the majority of organisms as it is the most abundant component of air i.e., 78%.
First, nitrogen needs to be converted into nitrates i.e., NO3- for the use of plants. This conversion can be done either by industrial nitrogen fixation i.e., basically manufacturing of ammonium salts and urea or chemical fertilisers or simply just by some of the nitrogen fixing bacteria like "azotobactor" which occurs freely in soil or "rhizobium" which occurs in root nodules of leguminous plants such as pea, gram, bean, etc, which converts the atmospheric nitrogen into water soluble nitrates. (The process of biofixation of nitrogen is known as nitrogen fixation.)
During lightning, the nitrogen of atmosphere reacts with the oxygen to form dilute nitric acid. This acid comes down to Earth with rainwater. Nitrates are absorbed by plants into their system and utilised for making organic matter such as proteins, etc. When animals consume plant matter, they break down the plant's nitrogenous compounds and then they use them to form new animal proteins as well as some other cell components.
After an animal excretes, the waste products known as the urea or uric acid or mailny after an animal or even plant dies, certain bacteria carry ammonification i.e., they produce ammonium ions (NH4+) from nitrogen-containing molecules. Plants can then assimilate this ammonium ion themselves or some other bacteria helps them by changing it to nitrate (NO3-) by nitrification. Some of the nitrates produced in this way are taken by the plants. (The process of ammonia formation is called ammonification.)
Some microorganisms like "nitrosomonas" and/or "nitrobacter" convert ammonia into nitrates. (This process is known as nitrification.) There are some other bacteria mainly decomposers for example, pseudomonas which reduce nitrates back to nitrogen or to ammonia or to some other oxides. (This process is called denitrification.)
At last, free nitrogen returns to the atmospheric pool and oxides are taken up by plants.
Nitrogen cycle is called a "perfect cycle" in the biosphere as it maintains the over all amount of nitrogen constant in atmosphere, soil as well as in water.
Answer:
Nitrogen Cycle yu
We are generally under the impression that we only need oxygen to live. Well, you couldn’t be more wrong! There is a laundry list of elements that animals need for survival. One such element is Nitrogen. But we can’t just get nitrogen from the air. It needs to be converted to nitrates, via a process called nitrogen cycle. So let us learn more about this fascinating concept.
The air we breathe contains 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and remaining are other trace gases. The nitrogen component of air is inert. So this means plants and animals cannot use it directly. To be able to use nitrogen, plants convert atmospheric nitrogen to nitrates, nitrites and ammonia compounds by a process called the nitrogen cycle. Animals derive their nitrogen requirements from plants.
Explanation:
Nitrogen cycle consists of four main steps namely:
Nitrogen Fixation