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Influence of edaphic and management factors on the diversity and abundance of ammonia‐oxidizing thaumarchaeota and bacteria in soils of bioenergy crop cultivars
Author(s) -
Bertagnolli Anthony D.,
Meinhardt Kelley A.,
Pannu Manmeet,
Brown Sally,
Strand Stuart,
Fransen Steven C.,
Stahl David A.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
environmental microbiology reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.229
H-Index - 69
ISSN - 1758-2229
DOI - 10.1111/1758-2229.12250
Subject(s) - ammonia monooxygenase , edaphic , panicum virgatum , soil water , nitrification , population , agronomy , biology , soil ph , pyrosequencing , environmental chemistry , botany , bioenergy , ecology , chemistry , nitrogen , demography , organic chemistry , sociology , biochemistry , renewable energy , gene
Summary Ammonia‐oxidizing thaumarcheota ( AOA ) and ammonia‐oxidizing bacteria ( AOB ) differentially influence soil and atmospheric chemistry, but soil properties that control their distributions are poorly understood. In this study, the ammonia monooxygenase gene ( amoA ) was used to identify and quantify presumptive AOA and AOB and relate their distributions to soil properties in two experimental fields planted with different varieties of switchgrass ( P anicum virgatum ), a potential bioenergy feedstock. Differences in ammonia oxidizer diversity were associated primarily with soil properties of the two field sites, with pH displaying significant correlations with both AOA and AOB population structure. Percent nitrogen (%N), carbon to nitrogen ratios (C : N), and pH were also correlated with shifts nitrifier population structure. N itrosotalea ‐like and N itrosospira cluster II populations were more highly represented in acidic soils, whereas populations affiliated with N itrososphaera and N itrosospira cluster 3 A .1 were relatively more abundant in alkaline soils. AOA were the dominant functional group in all plots based on quantitative polymerase chain reaction and high‐throughput sequencing analyses. These data suggest that AOA contribute significantly to nitrification rates in carbon and nitrogen rich soils influenced by perennial grasses.