Abstract
When vegetable leaves (spinach, spring onion of straight leaf type and cabbage) rotted in closed bettles, considerable parts of their original nitrate nitrogen content was emitted as nitrous oxide. This nitrous oxide was produced as a by-product of the process of the dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). Acetylene inhibited this process and made ammonium generation decrease. And acetylene made nitrous oxide emission increase to 50% of the original nitrate nitrogen content. Fungi with pathogenicity to spring onion attacked their living cells and converted nitrate nitrogen to nitrous oxide under oxygenic conditions. But the nitrous oxide emission by fungi was less than that by the bacteria.
