identifier: traitmech:000121
label: nitrogen respiration
definition: An anaerobic respiration in which an organism conserves energy by transferring
  electrons to an oxidized nitrogen compound as the terminal electron acceptor.
definition_source: DOI:10.1126/science.aaf4507
trait_category: METABOLISM
term_kind: CLASS
mapping_status: PROPOSED
parent_traits:
- METPO:1000802
synonyms:
- synonym_text: nitrogen_respiration
  synonym_type: RELATED_SYNONYM
  source: DOI:10.1126/science.aaf4507
evidence:
- reference: DOI:10.1128/mmbr.61.4.533-616.1997
  snippet: N oxides as terminal electron acceptors
  notes: Zumft reviews denitrification as anaerobic respiration with oxidized nitrogen
    compounds as electron acceptors.
curation_history:
- timestamp: '2026-09-08T00:00:00Z'
  curator: codex
  action: PROPOSED_FROM_RESEARCH
  changes: Proposed a DOI-backed FAPROTAX metabolic capability from proposals/metpo_traitmech_v11
    after repository-wide duplicate review.
  llm_assisted: true