Abstract
The pathway of nitrogen in the denitrifying bacteria Paracoccus denitrificans and Pseudomonas denitrifi- cans, stutzeri, and aureofaciens has been studied. De- nitrification was initiated with[l5N1nitriteand 14N0or with ["N]nitrite aloneandtheamountsandisotope composition of nitrite, NO, NzO, and Nzwere monitored by gacshromatography/masspectrometry tech- niques. Nitrite was monitored also by chemical analy- sis. With one exception,the denitrifying bacteria stud- ied conformedto twosimple reactionschemes.