An international research team led by the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CeMESS) at the University of Vienna has discovered that comammox bacteria, first identified by them in 2015, can grow using guanidine, a nitrogen-rich organic compound, as their sole energy and nitrogen source.
An international research team led by the Centre for Microbiology and Environmental Systems Science (CeMESS) at the University of Vienna has discovered that comammox bacteria, first identified by them in 2015, can grow using guanidine, a nitrogen-rich organic compound, as their sole energy and nitrogen source. This unique ability opens new avenues for targeted cultivation of these enigmatic microbes and could also provide a key to reducing agricultural nitrous oxide emissions. The research findings were recently published as an article in the prestigious journal Nature.
Nitrification, the conversion of ammonia via nitrite to nitrate, is carried out by specialized microorganisms called nitrifiers. This process is extremely important for the global biogeochemical nitrogen cycle in virtually all ecosystems, but it plays an ambivalent role in global change. On one hand, nitrification contributes to the emission of the potent greenhouse gas and ozone-depleting substance nitrous oxide and leads to massive fertilizer losses in agriculture, resulting in the eutrophication of water bodies. On the other hand, nitrification is indispensable as a biological purification step for nutrient removal in wastewater treatment plants, thus protecting water bodies from excessive nitrogen input from wastewater. The study authors have now found a way that may promote nitrifiers in the environment that emit less nitrous oxide.
Read more at: University of Vienna
Photo Credit: Kristina Djinović-Carugo/University of Vienna
