Open AccessSilver (Ag + ) reduces denitrification and induces enrichment of novel nirK genotypes in soil
Author(s) -
Throbäck Ingela Noredal,
Johansson Mats,
Rosenquist Magnus,
Pell Mikael,
Hansson Mikael,
Hallin Sara
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2007.00632.x
Subject(s) - denitrification , genotype , chemistry , environmental chemistry , soil microbiology , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , bacteria , genetics , nitrogen , gene , organic chemistry
The use of silver ions in industry to prevent microbial growth is increasing and silver is a new and an overlooked heavy‐metal contaminant in sewage sludge‐amended soil. The denitrifying community was the model used to assess the dose‐dependent effects of silver ions on microorganisms overtime in soil microcosms. Silver caused a sigmoid dose‐dependent reduction in denitrification activity, and no recovery was observed during 90 days. Dentrifiers with nirK , which encodes the copper nitrite reductase, were targeted to estimate abundance and community composition for some of the concentrations. The nirK copy number decreased by the highest addition (100 mg Ag kg −1 soil), but the nirK diversity increased. Treatment‐specific sequences not clustering with any deposited nirK sequences were found, indicating that silver induces enrichment of novel nirK denitrifiers.