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Related Experiment Videos

Archaeal nitrification in the ocean.

Cornelia Wuchter1, Ben Abbas, Marco J L Coolen

  • 1Department of Marine Biogeochemistry and Toxicology, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), P.O. Box 59, 1790 AB, Den Burg, The Netherlands.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
|August 9, 2006
PubMed
Summary

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Marine Archaea, specifically Crenarchaeota, are key players in ocean nitrification. Their abundance correlates with ammonium oxidation, suggesting a significant role in the marine nitrogen cycle.

Area of Science:

  • Marine microbiology
  • Biogeochemistry
  • Oceanography

Background:

  • Marine Crenarchaeota are abundant but their ecological roles are largely unknown.
  • Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonium to nitrite, is a critical step in the marine nitrogen cycle.
  • Previous studies suggested a potential role for Crenarchaeota in nitrification.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of marine Crenarchaeota in oceanic nitrification.
  • To determine if Crenarchaeota, rather than bacteria, are responsible for ammonium oxidation in marine environments.
  • To quantify the contribution of Archaea to marine nitrification.

Main Methods:

  • Enrichment of a crenarchaeote from North Sea water.
  • Correlation analysis of crenarchaeotal abundance with ammonium oxidation rates.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Time-series study in the North Sea measuring archaeal ammonia monooxygenase alpha subunit (amoA) gene abundance.
  • Quantitative analysis of archaeal and bacterial amoA gene copy numbers in North Atlantic waters.

    • Main Results:

    • The abundance of Crenarchaeota, not bacteria, correlated with ammonium oxidation to nitrite.
    • Archaeal amoA gene abundance was significantly higher (1-3 orders of magnitude) than bacterial amoA in both North Sea and Atlantic waters.
    • Archaeal amoA abundance correlated with decreased ammonium concentrations.

    Conclusions:

    • Archaea, particularly Crenarchaeota, play a major role in oceanic nitrification.
    • The findings challenge the prevailing view that bacteria are the primary drivers of marine nitrification.
    • Marine Archaea are significant contributors to the oceanic nitrogen cycle.