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

Acknowledgments The authors are members of the Nitrous Oxide Research Alliance (NORA), a Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN and research project under the EU's seventh framework program (FP7). GN is funded by the AXA Research Fund. The authors would like to thank Dr Nicholas Morley for assistance with gas chromatography, Dr Robin Walker and the SRUC Craibstone Estate (Aberdeen) for access to the agricultural plots and Dr Thomas Cornulier for statistical advice.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Archaeal and bacterial ammonia-oxidisers in soil : the quest for niche specialisation and differentiation

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Grand Challenges in Terrestrial Microbiology

Understanding the functional role of different microbial populations is essential to ascertain whether environmental factors affecting their diversity, activity, and physiology will impact the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems. The soil environment represents one of the largest reservoirs of microbes in the biosphere and is the most significant in linking the activity of humans with the interaction and alteration of the major biogeochemical cycles. The global nitrogen cycle has been massively accelerated through the annual removal of over 100 Tg of atmospheric nitrogen for the production and use of fertilizers (Grube

Nitrous oxide production by ammonia oxidizers : Physiological diversity, niche differentiation and potential mitigation strategies

Funding Information: This work was financially supported by the AXA Research Fund (GWN), a Royal Society University Research Fellowship UF150571 (CGR) and all authors are members of the Nitrous Oxide Research Alliance (NORA), a Marie Skłodowska‐Curie ITN and research project under the EU's seventh framework programme (FP7).Peer reviewedPostprin

Genome Sequence of “Candidatus Nitrosocosmicus franklandus” C13, a Terrestrial Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaeon

“Candidatus Nitrosocosmicus franklandus” C13 is an ammonia-oxidizing archaeon (AOA) isolated from soil. Its complete genome is 2.84 Mb and possesses predicted AOA metabolic pathways for energy generation and carbon dioxide fixation but no typical surface layer (S-layer) proteins, only one ammonium transporter, and divergent A-type ATP synthase genes

Links between seawater flooding, soil ammonia oxidiser communities and their response to changes in salinity

Acknowledgements We thank Heather Richmond and Mechthild Bömeke for providing excellent technical assistance. In addition, we thank Jessica Heublein for support with respect to basic soil analyses and Laura Lehtovirta-Morley for useful discussion on cultivation of AO. We also thank Ruth Hartwig-Kruse, Michael Kliesch and the team of the ‘Schutzstation Wattenmeer Langeness’ for support during sampling. FUNDING This work was financially supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (NA 848/1-1).Peer reviewedPostprin

Effect of nitrification inhibitors on the growth and activity of Nitrosotalea devanaterra in culture and soil

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The consequences of niche and physiological differentiation of archaeal and bacterial ammonia oxidisers for nitrous oxide emissions

The authors are members of the Nitrous Oxide Research Alliance (NORA), a Marie Skłodowska-Curie ITN and research project under the EU's seventh framework program (FP7). GN is funded by the AXA Research Fund and CGR by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship (UF150571) and a Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Standard Grant (NE/K016342/1). The authors would like to thank Dr Robin Walker and the SRUC Craibstone Estate (Aberdeen) for access to the agricultural plots, Dr Alex Douglas for statistical advice and Philipp Schleusner for assisting microcosm construction and sampling.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Differential response of archaeal and bacterial communities to nitrogen inputs and pH changes in upland pasture rhizosphere soil

Grassland management regimens influence the structure of archaeal communities in upland pasture soils, which appear to be dominated by as yet uncultivated non-thermophilic Crenarchaeota. In an attempt to determine which grassland management factors select for particular crenarchaeal community structures, soil microcosm experiments were performed examining the effect of increased pH, application of inorganic fertilizer (ammonium nitrate) and sheep urine deposition on both archaeal and bacterial communities in unmanaged grassland soil. As grassland management typically increases pH, a further experiment examined the effect of a reduction in pH, to that typical of unimproved grassland soils, on archaeal and bacterial communities. The RT-PCR amplification of 16S rRNA followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis demonstrated a distinct and reproducible effect on bacterial communities after incubation for 28 or 30 days. In contrast, none of the treatments had a significant effect on the structure of the crenarchaeal community, indicating that these factors are not major drivers of crenarchaeal community structures in grassland soil

Genetic loci regulating cadmium content in rice grains

Open Access via the Springer Compact Agreement Acknowledgements: Plant material was imported into the UK under import licence IMP/SOIL/19/2014. The authors would like to thank reviewers of the manuscript who helped improve the presentation. Funding: The bulk of this work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, mostly from project BB/J003336/1. A small part of the work by AJT was supported by project BB/N013492/1 (NEWS-India-UK). PR was financially supported by a Royal Thai Government Scholarship and National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), Thailand and AAA supported by the Elphinstone Scholarship Scheme (University of Aberdeen).Peer reviewedPublisher PD