Dynamics and functional relevance of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in two agricultural soils.
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.
Schauss
Kristina
K
Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Institute for Soil Ecology, Neuherberg, Germany.
Focks
Andreas
A
Leininger
Sven
S
Kotzerke
Anja
A
Heuer
Holger
H
Thiele-Bruhn
Sören
S
Sharma
Shilpi
S
Wilke
Berndt-Michael
BM
Matthies
Michael
M
Smalla
Kornelia
K
Munch
Jean Charles
JC
Amelung
Wulf
W
Kaupenjohann
Martin
M
Schloter
Michael
M
Schleper
Christa
C
D000641:Ammonia / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001105:Archaea / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D008372:Manure / Q000382:microbiology; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D013411:Sulfadiazine / Q000494:pharmacology; D013552:Swine
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D008372:Manure; D013411:Sulfadiazine; D000641:Ammonia