Anaerobic ammonium‐oxidizing bacteria in marine environments: widespread occurrence but low diversity
Open Access
- 28 February 2007
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Environmental Microbiology
- Vol. 9 (6), 1476-1484
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1462-2920.2007.01266.x
Abstract
Summary Laboratory and field studies have indicated that anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is an important process in the marine nitrogen cycle. In this study 11 additional anoxic marine sediment and water column samples were studied to substantiate this claim. In a combined approach using the molecular methods, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), qualitative and quantitative fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), as well as 15N stable isotope activity measurements, it was shown that anammox bacteria were present and active in all samples investigated. The anammox activity measured in the sediment samples ranged from 0.08 fmol cell−1 day−1 N2 in the Golfo Dulce (Pacific Ocean, Costa Rica) sediment to 0.98 fmol cell−1 day−1 N2 in the Gullmarsfjorden (North Sea, Sweden) sediment. The percentage of anammox cell of the total population (stained with DAPI) as assessed by quantitative FISH was highest in the Barents Sea (9% ± 4%) and in most of the samples well over 2%. Fluorescence in situ hybridization and phylogenetic analysis of the PCR products derived from the marine samples indicated the exclusive presence of members of the Candidatus‘Scalindua’ genus. This study showed the ubiquitous presence of anammox bacteria in anoxic marine ecosystems, supporting previous observations on the importance of anammox for N cycling in marine environments.Keywords
This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit:
- Ubiquity and diversity of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in water columns and sediments of the oceanProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2005
- Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) in the marine environmentResearch in Microbiology, 2005
- Anaerobic ammonium oxidation by nitrite (anammox): Implications for N2 production in coastal marine sedimentsGeochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2005
- Nitrogen removal in marine environments: recent findings and future research challengesMarine Chemistry, 2005
- Marine microorganisms and global nutrient cyclesNature, 2004
- Biodiversity, Community Structural Shifts, and Biogeography of Prokaryotes within Antarctic Continental Shelf SedimentApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2003
- Solution to a marine mysteryNature, 2003
- N2 production by the anammox reaction in the anoxic water column of Golfo Dulce, Costa RicaNature, 2003
- Community Structure of Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria within Anoxic Marine SedimentsApplied and Environmental Microbiology, 2003
- Methods of Seawater AnalysisPublished by Wiley ,1999