NITROGEN BALANCE STUDIES WITH THE MILK-FED LAMB. 3. EFFECT OF DIFFERENT NITROGEN INTAKES ON GROWTH AND NITROGEN BALANCE.
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The objectives of this study were to evaluate the potential for using blood urea N concentration to predict urinary N excretion rate, and to develop a mathematical model to estimate important variables of N utilization for several different species of farm animals and for rats. Treatment means (n = 251) from 41 research publications were used to develop mathematical relationships. There was a strong linear relationship between blood urea N concentration (mg/100 mL) and rate of N excretion (g x d(-1) x kg BW(-1)) for all animal species investigated. The N clearance rate of the kidney (L of blood cleared of urea x d(-1) x kg BW(-1)) was greater for pigs and rats than for herbivores (cattle, sheep, goats, horses). A model was developed to estimate parameters of N utilization. Driving variables for the model included blood urea N concentration (mg/100 mL), BW (kg), milk production rate (kg/d), and ADG (kg/d), and response variables included urinary N excretion rate (g/d), fecal N excretion rate (g/d), rate of N intake (g/d), and N utilization efficiency (N in milk and gain per unit of N intake). Prediction errors varied widely depending on the variable and species of animal, with most of the variation attributed to study differences. Blood urea N concentration (mg/100 mL) can be used to predict relative differences in urinary N excretion rate (g/d) for animals of a similar type and stage of production within a study, but is less reliable across animal types or studies. Blood urea N concentration (mg/100 mL) can be further integrated with estimates of N digestibility (g/g) and N retention (g/d) to predict fecal N (g/d), N intake (g/d), and N utilization efficiency (grams of N in milk and meat per gram of N intake). Target values of blood urea N concentration (mg/100 mL) can be backcalculated from required dietary N (g/d) and expected protein digestibility. Blood urea N can be used in various animal species to quantify N utilization and excretion rates.
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A method for direct purine N isolation and determination was modified from the method of Zinn and Owens for rapid determination of purines. By this method, N derived from purines in digesta was measured and collected for 15N determinations. Measurements of purine N in 33 samples of ruminal contents and duodenal digesta of sheep and goats were compared with purine determinations in the same samples. The results showed that essentially all the N in the purines that could be isolated by the Zinn and Owens procedure also could be detected by N isolation and determination. Determinations of 15N in the NH3 N, NAN, and purine N fractions in a continuous culture in vitro showed significant differences in the 15N enrichment curves between diets based on either roasted or raw soybean meal.
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The contribution of small mammals to nitrogen cycling could have repercussions for the producer community in the maintaining or perhaps magnifying of nitrogen availability. Our objective was to model nitrogen outputs (deposition of feces and urine) of small mammals in an old-field ecosystem and estimate the amount of fecal and urinary nitrogen deposited annually. To address this objective, we used models from laboratory studies and combined these with data from field studies to estimate dietary nitrogen and monthly and annual nitrogen outputs from fecal and urine deposition of five rodent species. The models accounted for monthly fluctuations in density and biomass of small-mammal populations. We estimated that the minimal amount of nitrogen deposited by rodents was 1.0 (0.9-1.1) and 2.7 (2.6-2.9) kg Nha(-1) year(-1) from feces and urine, respectively, for a total contribution of 3.7 (3.5-4.0) kg Nha(-1) year(-1). Hispid cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) accounted for >75% of the total nitrogen output by small mammals. Our estimates of annual fecal and urinary nitrogen deposited by rodents were comparable to nitrogen deposits by larger herbivores and other nitrogen fluxes in grassland ecosystems and should be considered when assessing the potential effects of herbivory on terrestrial nitrogen cycles.
In order to determine the intravenous energy and nitrogen intakes required to achieve intrauterine rates of nitrogen accretion and growth, 30 studies were completed in 22 premature infants who were provided with various intakes of amino acids and energy (glucose +/- lipid) by peripheral vein infusion. At constant nitrogen intake, increasing energy intake (as lipid) from 50 to 80 nonprotein kcal/kg/day resulted in significant increases in nitrogen retention and weight gain. Increasing nitrogen intake from 494 to 655 mg/kg/day at constant low energy intake (mean = 53 kcal/kg/day) had no effect on nitrogen retention or weight change; however, at higher energy intakes (mean = 81 kcal/kg/day) increasing nitrogen intake correlated significantly with increasing nitrogen retention. At energy intakes greater than 70 kcal/kg/day the major determinant of nitrogen retention was nitrogen intake. When energy intake was greater than 70 kcal/kg/day, the infusion of nitrogen providing 430 to 560 mg/kg/day (2.7 to 3.5 gm protein/kg/day) resulted in the duplication of intrauterine nitrogen accretion rates.
1. The effects of increasing glucose intake on nitrogen balance, energy expenditure and fuel utilization were measured in 12 malnourished adult patients receiving parenteral nutrition with constant, very high nitrogen intake (500 mg of N/kg), high (105 kJ/kg) or low (30 kJ/kg) glucose intake and constant fat intake (7 kJ/kg). Each patient received each diet for 8-day periods in random order. 2. Energy balance and nitrogen balance were determined daily. Blood samples, taken at admission, during 5% (w/v) dextrose (D-glucose) infusion and at the end of days 7 and 8 of each diet, were analysed for urea, glucose, lactate, triacylglycerols, fatty acids, glycerol, 3-hydroxybutyrate, insulin and glucagon. 3. The effect of increasing glucose intake was to increase nitrogen balance by 0.60 +/- 0.25 (SEM) mg/kJ. At zero energy balance, nitrogen balance was 48 mg day-1 kg-1. This confirms findings of previous studies: that the effects of glucose on nitrogen balance are greater at high than at low nitrogen intakes, and that, in malnourished patients, unlike in normal adults, markedly positive nitrogen balance can be achieved at zero or negative energy balances. 4. Changes in nitrogen balance were due almost entirely to changes in urea excretion. 5. The high nitrogen intake markedly increased plasma insulin and glucagon concentrations and reduced glycerol, fatty acid and 3-hydroxybutyrate concentrations, independent of any glucose effect. Glucagon concentrations were significantly decreased by added glucose intake, an effect not previously seen at low nitrogen intakes. At this high nitrogen intake, the effects of added glucose appear to be mediated by both insulin and glucagon.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
The results of this study showed that nitrogen application improved the nitrogen uptake by wheat, especially during its late growth stage. Although a higher nitrogen application rate could increase the amount of absorbed nitrogen, an excess of nitrogen would remain in vegetative organs at the stage after flowering, owing to the low translocation rate of nitrogen from these organs to the grain, and hence, the nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen harvest index were decreased. Compared with that on high fertility soil, the ratio of nitrogen absorbed from fertilizer to total absorbed nitrogen was higher when the wheat was grown on low fertility soil. On high fertility soil, wheat plant absorbed more nitrogen from top-dressed fertilizer than from basis fertilizer, and top-dressed fertilizer contributed more nitrogen to the grain. It was reversed on low fertility soil.
The redox-sensing flavoprotein NifL inhibits the activity of the nitrogen fixation (nif)-specific transcriptional activator NifA in Azotobacter vinelandii in response to molecular oxygen and fixed nitrogen. Although the mechanism whereby the A. vinelandii NifL-NifA system responds to fixed nitrogen in vivo is unknown, the glnK gene, which encodes a PII-like signal transduction protein, has been implicated in nitrogen control. However, the precise function of A. vinelandii glnK in this response is difficult to establish because of the essential nature of this gene. We have shown previously that A. vinelandii NifL is able to respond to fixed nitrogen to control NifA activity when expressed in Escherichia coli. In this study, we investigated the role of the E. coli PII-like signal transduction proteins in nitrogen control of the A. vinelandii NifL-NifA regulatory system in vivo. In contrast to recent findings with Klebsiella pneumoniae NifL, our results indicate that neither the E. coli PII nor GlnK protein is required to relieve inhibition by A. vinelandii NifL under nitrogen-limiting conditions. Moreover, disruption of both the E. coli glnB and ntrC genes resulted in a complete loss of nitrogen regulation of NifA activity by NifL. We observe that glnB ntrC and glnB glnK ntrC mutant strains accumulate high levels of intracellular 2-oxoglutarate under conditions of nitrogen excess. These findings are in accord with our recent in vitro observations (R. Little, F. Reyes-Ramirez, Y. Zhang, W. Van Heeswijk, and R. Dixon, EMBO J. 19:6041-6050, 2000) and suggest a model in which nitrogen control of the A. vinelandii NifL-NifA system is achieved through the response to the level of 2-oxoglutarate and an interaction with PII-like proteins under conditions of nitrogen excess.
A nitrogen balance study was undertaken to determine the effects of three levels of nitrogen intake on the loss of nitrogen through sweat and to assess the impact of sweat nitrogen on the protein needs of preadolescent girls. Values were determined through the collection of 24-hour, total body sweat samples from 15 healthy girls with a mean age of 8 years, 7 months. Mean height and weight of the subjects were 132 cm and 28.9 kg, respectively. Mean sweat nitrogen losses, collected under uncontrolled environmental conditions, were 201 mg, 263 mg and 319 mg/day on 34 g, 57 g and 88 g of protein intake. The environmental conditions throughout the study remained fairly constant. Mean nitrogen balances per day were 0.04 g, 0.55 g and 1.42 g on the respective levels of nitrogen intake, with the inclusion of sweat nitrogen loss, however, a negative nitrogen balance per day was found in 8 and 2 subjects on 34 g and 57 g protein intake. After considering nitrogen retention of 0.3 g which has been recommended by NRC for the minimum nitrogen allowance for growth of preadolescent children, protein intakes higher than that recommended by the NRC-RDA for preadolescent girls may be required for support of normal growth.
The relationships between nitrogen and yield and between water and yield, and the fate of nitrogen under plastic film mulching for spring maize were studied with field plots and microplots in the southern Loess Plateau. The results showed that plastic-film mulching (N120C) could increase maize yield by 46.7%, comparing with no-mulching(N120UC) in same rate of fertilizer. The maize yield potentiality of mulching might be played fully, comparing with CK (no nitrogen), treatments N120 (urea nitrogen 120 kg.hm-2), N180 (urea nitrogen 180 kg.hm-2) and N120 M (urea nitrogen 120 kg.hm-2 + organic manure nitrogen 60 kg.hm-2) could raise grain yield by 41.8%, 43.9% and 34.7%, respectively. Mulching planting raised water use efficiency (WUE) by 57.9%, and raised rainfall use efficiency (RUE) by 54.5%. N120, N180 and N120M improved WUE by 38.4%, 47.4% and 32.4%, respectively, and improved RUE by 42.3%, 43.9% and 34.7%, respectively. Because the organic manure applied was not fully rotted cattle dung, which supplied available nitrogen slowly than urea, it raised yield and WUE to a low extent. Meanwhile, the experiment showed that 73.0%-83.7% of water used by maize from rainfall, which indicated that the key water to determine maize yield was rainfall in spring maize growth period. Mulching planting for maize had little impact on the fate of nitrogen fertilizer. The total recovery of nitrogen had little difference, NUE decreased 7.3%, and residual N in soil raised 6.4%, comparing with N120UC. A great part of the residual N was in 0-20 cm of soil, and no risk occurred for nitrogen leaching and accumulation to deeper soil layers in the first growth season.
Translocation of nitrogen was measured in wheat (Triticum aestivium L. cv SUN 9E) plants grown without an exogenous supply of nitrogen from the time that the flagleaf began to emerge, and a model of nitrogen translocation was constructed to describe translocation on one day during the linear period of grain growth. Nitrogen for grain development was derived entirely by the redistribution of nitrogen from vegetative organs. Leaves contributed 40%, glumes 23%, stem 23%, and roots 16% of the nitrogen incorporated by the grains on the fifteenth day after anthesis. Less than 50% of the nitrogen exported from leaves was translocated directly to the grain via the phloem, the rest was translocated to the roots and was cycled in the roots and exported to the shoot in the transpiration stream. Nitrogen imported by leaves and glumes via the xylem was not accumulated in these organs but was transferred to the phloem for reexport from the organs. A large proportion (60%) of the nitrogen in the transpiration stream was cycled in the glumes. The glumes were also a major source of nitrogen for grain development. It was considered likely that this organ always plays an important role in nitrogen metabolism in wheat.
Nitrogen is an essential element for life and is often the limiting nutrient for terrestrial ecosystems. As most nitrogen is locked in the kinetically stable form, N2, in the Earth's atmosphere, processes that can fix N2 into biologically available forms-such as nitrate and ammonia-control the supply of nitrogen for organisms. On the early Earth, nitrogen is thought to have been fixed abiotically, as nitric oxide formed during lightning discharge. The advent of biological nitrogen fixation suggests that at some point the demand for fixed nitrogen exceeded the supply from abiotic sources, but the timing and causes of the onset of biological nitrogen fixation remain unclear. Here we report an experimental simulation of nitrogen fixation by lightning over a range of Hadean (4.5-3.8 Gyr ago) and Archaean (3.8-2.5 Gyr ago) atmospheric compositions, from predominantly carbon dioxide to predominantly dinitrogen (but always without oxygen). We infer that, as atmospheric CO2 decreased over the Archaean period, the production of nitric oxide from lightning discharge decreased by two orders of magnitude until about 2.2 Gyr. After this time, the rise in oxygen (or methane) concentrations probably initiated other abiotic sources of nitrogen. Although the temporary reduction in nitric oxide production may have lasted for only 100 Myr or less, this was potentially long enough to cause an ecological crisis that triggered the development of biological nitrogen fixation.