Translations:Fertilizer/14/en

Two sets of enzymatic reactions are highly relevant to the efficiency of nitrogen-based fertilizers.

The first is the hydrolysis (reaction with water) of urea (CO(NH
2)
2). Many soil bacteria possess the enzyme urease, which catalyzes the conversion of urea to ammonium ion (NH+
4) and bicarbonate ion (HCO−
3).

Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), such as species of Nitrosomonas, oxidize ammonia (NH
3) to nitrite (NO−
2), a process termed nitrification. Nitrite-oxidizing bacteria, especially Nitrobacter, oxidize nitrite (NO−
2) to nitrate (NO−
3), which is extremely soluble and mobile and is a major cause of eutrophication and algal bloom.