Nickel in Biological role

Although it was not recognized until the 1970s, nickel is known to play an important role in the biology of some plants,
eubacteria, archaebacteria, and fungi. Nickel enzymes such as urease are considered virulence factors in some organisms. Urease
catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea to form ammonia and carbamate. The NiFe hydrogenases can catalyze the oxidation of H2 to
form protons and electrons, and can also catalyze the reverse reaction, the reduction of protons to form hydrogen gas. A nickel-
tetrapyrrole coenzyme, cofactor F430, is present in methyl coenzyme M reductase, which can catalyze the formation of methane,
or the reverse reaction, in methanogenic archaea (in +1 oxidation state). One of the carbon monoxide dehydrogenase enzymes
consists of an Fe-Ni-S cluster.[88] Other nickel-bearing enzymes include a rare bacterial class of superoxide dismutase and
glyoxalase I enzymes in bacteria and several parasitic eukaryotic trypanosomal parasites (in higher organisms, including yeast
and mammals, this enzyme contains divalent Zn2+).

Dietary nickel may affect human health through infections by nickel-dependent bacteria, but it is also possible that nickel is an
essential nutrient for bacteria residing in the large intestine, in effect functioning as a prebiotic.[96] The US Institute of Medicine
has not confirmed that nickel is an essential nutrient for humans, so neither a Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) nor an
Adequate Intake have been established. The Tolerable Upper Intake Level of dietary nickel is 1000 µg/day as soluble nickel salts.
Dietary intake is estimated at 70 to 100 µg/day, with less than 10% absorbed. What is absorbed is excreted in urine. Relatively
large amounts of nickel – comparable to the estimated average ingestion above – leach into food cooked in stainless steel. For
example, the amount of nickel leached after 10 cooking cycles into one serving of tomato sauce averages 88 µg.

Nickel released from Siberian Traps volcanic eruptions is suspected of assisting the growth of Methanosarcina, a genus of
euryarchaeote archaea that produced methane during the Permian–Triassic extinction event, the biggest extinction event on
record.