The diagram shows the nitrogen cycle. Arrow X converts ammonium compounds into nitrates. Ammonium compounds released when proteins decay are converted into ...

Assessment: Biology 0610 | Paper 1 Mock 01 | Multiple Choice (Core) Subject: Biology - 0610

Question 1 Report

The diagram shows the nitrogen cycle. Arrow X converts ammonium compounds into nitrates.

Ammonium compounds released when proteins decay are converted into nitrates in well-aerated soil. Which type of bacteria carries out this conversion?

diagram

Answer Details

In well-aerated soil, nitrifying bacteria oxidise the ammonium compounds released by decay into nitrates, the form plants absorb most readily; this step is called nitrification. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria act on nitrogen gas, not ammonium, and denitrifying bacteria do the opposite by turning nitrate back into nitrogen gas; there is no such thing as carbon-fixing bacteria in this cycle. Keep the two easily confused steps apart: fixation is gas to compound, while nitrification is ammonium to nitrate.

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