title: Adjustment of microbial nitrogen use efficiency to carbon:nitrogen imbalances regulates soil nitrogen cycling.
abstract: Microbial nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) describes the partitioning of organic N taken up between growth and the release of inorganic N to the environment (that is, N mineralization), and is thus central to our understanding of N cycling. Here we report empirical evidence that microbial decomposer communities in soil and plant litter regulate their NUE. We find that microbes retain most immobilized organic N (high NUE), when they are N limited, resulting in low N mineralization. However, when the metabolic control of microbial decomposers switches from N to C limitation, they release an increasing fraction of organic N as ammonium (low NUE). We conclude that the regulation of NUE is an essential strategy of microbial communities to cope with resource imbalances, independent of the regulation of microbial carbon use efficiency, with significant effects on terrestrial N cycling.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mooshammer
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wanek
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Ieda
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hämmerle
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fuchslueger
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hofhansl
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knoltsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schnecker
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Mounir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takriti
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Margarete
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watzka
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wild
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, Institute of Soil Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Peter-Jordan-Strasse 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Katharina M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Keiblinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Forest and Soil Sciences, Institute of Soil Research, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Peter-Jordan-Strasse 82, 1190 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zechmeister-Boltenstern
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Ecosystem Science, Terrestrial Ecosystem Research, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Richter
mesh_terms: D064751:Ammonium Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis*; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D064307:Microbiota / Q000502:physiology*; D058458:Nitrogen Cycle / Q000502:physiology*; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D064751:Ammonium Compounds; D012987:Soil; D002244:Carbon
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