Nitrous-oxide reductase

In enzymology, a nitrous-oxide reductase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction


 * nitrogen + H2O + acceptor $$\rightleftharpoons$$ nitrous oxide + reduced acceptor

The 3 substrates of this enzyme are nitrogen, H2O, and acceptor, whereas its two products are nitrous oxide and reduced acceptor.

This enzyme belongs to the family of oxidoreductases, specifically those acting on other nitrogenous compounds as donors with other acceptors. The systematic name of this enzyme class is nitrogen:acceptor oxidoreductase (N2O-forming). Other names in common use include nitrous oxide reductase, N2O reductase, and nitrogen:(acceptor) oxidoreductase (N2O-forming). This enzyme participates in nitrogen metabolism. It employs one cofactor, copper.

Structural studies
As of late 2007, 3 structures have been solved for this class of enzymes, with PDB accession codes, , and.