The bacterial oxidation of ammonia in the sea

Abstract

The final regeneration stages of the nitrogen cycle in the sea are believed to consist of the bacterial oxidation of ammonium-nitrogen to nitrite and finally nitrate-nitrogen. There have been many attempts to demonstrate the presence in the sea of marine counterparts to the terrestrial Nitrosomonas and Nttrobacter. (See Zobell, 1946, for bibliography of the earlier work.) Bacteria which can oxidize either ammonia or nitrite are easily demonstrated in samples of bottom material or water contaminated by land drainage or bottom deposits. On the other hand, there has been general failure to demonstrate the presence of such species in the upper layers of the open ocean.