Influence of inorganic nitrogen-management regime on the diversity of nitrite oxidizing bacteria in agricultural grassland soils.

Thomas Erich Freitag, Lijun Chang, C. D. Clegg, James Ivor Prosser

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

134 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

To assess links between the diversity of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in agricultural grassland soils and inorganic N fertilizer management, NOB communities in fertilized and unfertilized soils were characterized by analysis of clone libraries and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of 16S rRNA gene fragments. Previously uncharacterized Nitrospira-like sequences were isolated from both long-term-fertilized and unfertilized soils, but DGGE migration patterns indicated the presence of additional sequence types in the fertilized soils. Detailed phylogenetic analysis of Nitrospira-like sequences suggests the existence of one newly described evolutionary group and of subclusters within previously described sublineages, potentially representing different ecotypes; the new group may represent a lineage of noncharacterized Nitrospira species. Clone libraries of Nitrobacter-like sequences generated from soils under different long-term N management regimes were dominated by sequences with high similarity to the rhizoplane isolate Nitrobacter sp. strain PjN1. However, the diversity of Nitrobacter communities did not differ significantly between the two soil types. This is the first cultivation-independent study of nitrite-oxidizing bacteria in soil demonstrating that nitrogen management practices influence the diversity of this bacterial functional group.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)8323-8334
Number of pages11
JournalApplied and Environmental Microbiology
Volume71
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2005

Keywords

  • NITROSPIRA-LIKE BACTERIA
  • IN-SITU HYBRIDIZATION
  • 16S RIBOSOMAL-RNA
  • MICROBIAL COMMUNITY COMPOSITION
  • POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION
  • WATER TREATMENT PLANTS
  • NITRIFYING BACTERIA
  • PHYLOGENETIC ANALYSIS
  • ACTIVATED-SLUDGE
  • DOMINANT POPULATIONS

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