A novel bacterial protein family that catalyses nitrous oxide reduction

Guang He, Weijiao Wang, Gao Chen, Yongchao Xie, Jerry M. Parks, Megan E. Davin, Robert L. Hettich, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis and Frank E. Löffler ()
Additional contact information
Guang He: University of Tennessee
Weijiao Wang: University of Tennessee
Gao Chen: University of Tennessee
Yongchao Xie: University of Tennessee
Jerry M. Parks: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Megan E. Davin: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Robert L. Hettich: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis: Georgia Institute of Technology
Frank E. Löffler: University of Tennessee

Nature, 2025, vol. 646, issue 8083, 152-160

Abstract: Abstract Nitrous oxide (N2O), a driver of global warming and climate change, has reached unprecedented concentrations in Earth’s atmosphere1. Current N2O sources outpace N2O sinks, emphasizing the need for comprehensive understanding of processes that consume N2O. Microbes that express the enzyme N2O reductase (N2OR) convert N2O to climate change-neutral dinitrogen (N2). Known N2ORs belong to the canonical clade I and clade II NosZ reductases and are considered key enzymes for N2O reduction2–4. Here we report a previously unrecognized protein family with a role in N2O reduction, clade III lactonase-type N2OR (L-N2OR), which diverges in sequence from canonical NosZ but conserves three-dimensional protein structural features. Integrated physiological, metagenomic, proteomic and structural modelling studies demonstrate that L-N2ORs catalyse N2O reduction. L-N2OR genes occur in several phyla, predominantly in uncultured taxa with broad geographic distribution. Our findings expand the known diversity of N2ORs and implicate previously unrecognized taxa (for example, Nitrospinota) in N2O consumption. The expansion of N2OR diversity and the identification of a novel type of catalyst for N2O reduction advances the understanding of N2O sinks, has implications for greenhouse gas emission and climate change modelling, and expands opportunities for innovative biotechnologies aimed at curbing N2O emissions5,6.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09401-4 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:646:y:2025:i:8083:d:10.1038_s41586-025-09401-4

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09401-4

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().