Archaea produce lower yields of N2O than bacteria during aerobic ammonia oxidation in soil

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Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4829-4837
Number of pages9
JournalEnvironmental Microbiology
Volume19
Issue number12
Early online date2016
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2017
Externally publishedYes

Abstract

Nitrogen fertilisation of agricultural soil contributes significantly to emissions of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N 2O), which is generated during denitrification and, in oxic soils, mainly by ammonia oxidisers. Although laboratory cultures of ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) produce N 2O, their relative activities in soil are unknown. This work tested the hypothesis that AOB dominate ammonia oxidation and N 2O production under conditions of high inorganic ammonia (NH 3) input, but result mainly from the activity of AOA when NH 3 is derived from mineralisation. 1-octyne, a recently discovered inhibitor of AOB, was used to distinguish N 2O production resulting from archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidation in soil microcosms, and specifically inhibited AOB growth, activity and N 2O production. In unamended soils, ammonia oxidation and N 2O production were lower and resulted mainly from ammonia oxidation by AOA. The AOA N 2O yield relative to nitrite produced was half that of AOB, likely due to additional enzymatic mechanisms in the latter, but ammonia oxidation and N 2O production were directly linked in all treatments. Relative contributions of AOA and AOB to N 2O production, therefore, reflect their respective contributions to ammonia oxidation. These results suggest potential mitigation strategies for N 2O emissions from fertilised agricultural soils.

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Archaea produce lower yields of N2O than bacteria during aerobic ammonia oxidation in soil. / Hink, Linda; Nicol, Graeme W. ; Prosser, James I.
In: Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 19, No. 12, 12.2017, p. 4829-4837.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Hink L, Nicol GW, Prosser JI. Archaea produce lower yields of N2O than bacteria during aerobic ammonia oxidation in soil. Environmental Microbiology. 2017 Dec;19(12):4829-4837. Epub 2016. doi: 10.1111/1462-2920.13282
Hink, Linda ; Nicol, Graeme W. ; Prosser, James I. / Archaea produce lower yields of N2O than bacteria during aerobic ammonia oxidation in soil. In: Environmental Microbiology. 2017 ; Vol. 19, No. 12. pp. 4829-4837.
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