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Dynamics and functional relevance of ammonia‐oxidizing archaea in two agricultural soils
Author(s) -
Schauss Kristina,
Focks Andreas,
Leininger Sven,
Kotzerke Anja,
Heuer Holger,
ThieleBruhn Sören,
Sharma Shilpi,
Wilke BerndtMichael,
Matthies Michael,
Smalla Kornelia,
Munch Jean Charles,
Amelung Wulf,
Kaupenjohann Martin,
Schloter Michael,
Schleper Christa
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1111/j.1462-2920.2008.01783.x
Subject(s) - biology , archaea , oxidizing agent , ammonia , soil water , agriculture , relevance (law) , ecology , environmental chemistry , bacteria , biochemistry , genetics , chemistry , organic chemistry , political science , law
Summary Crucial steps in geochemical cycles are in many cases performed by more than one group of microorganisms, but the significance of this functional redundancy with respect to ecosystem functioning is poorly understood. Ammonia‐oxidizing archaea (AOA) and their bacterial counterparts (AOB) are a perfect system to address this question: although performing the same transformation step, they belong to well‐separated phylogenetic groups. Using pig manure amended with different concentrations of sulfadiazine (SDZ), an antibiotic that is frequently used in veterinary medicine, it was possible to affect AOB and AOA to different degrees. Addition of manure stimulated growth of AOB in both soils and, interestingly, also growth of AOA was considerably stimulated in one of the soils. The antibiotic treatments decreased the manure effect notably on AOB, whereas AOA were affected to a lower extent. Model calculations concerning the respective proportions of AOA and AOB in ammonia oxidation indicate a substantial contribution of AOA in one of the soils that further increased under the influence of SDZ, hence indicating functional redundancy between AOA and AOB.