This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Karsten, G. R. Articles by Drake, H. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Karsten, G. R. Articles by Drake, H. L. Agricola Articles by Karsten, G. R. Articles by Drake, H. L.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Appl. Environ. Microbiol., May 1997, 1878-1882, Vol 63, No. 5
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology

Denitrifying Bacteria in the Earthworm Gastrointestinal Tract and In Vivo Emission of Nitrous Oxide (N(inf2)O) by Earthworms

GR Karsten and HL Drake
Lehrstuhl fur Okologische Mikrobiologie, BITOK, Universitat Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany

Earthworms (Lumbricus rubellus and Octolasium lacteum) and gut homogenates did not produce CH(inf4), and methanogens were not readily culturable from gut material. In contrast, the numbers of culturable denitrifiers averaged 7 x 10(sup7) and 9 x 10(sup6) per g (dry weight) of gut material for L. rubellus and O. lacteum, respectively; these values were 256- and 35-fold larger than the numbers of culturable denitrifiers in the soil from which the earthworms were obtained. Anaerobically incubated earthworm gut homogenates supplemented with nitrate produced N(inf2)O at rates exceeding that of soil homogenates. Furthermore, living earthworms emitted N(inf2)O under aerobic conditions, and N(inf2)O emission was stimulated by acetylene. For earthworms collected from a mildly acidic (pH 6) beech forest soil, the rates of N(inf2)O emission for earthworms and soil averaged 884 and 2 pmol per h per g (fresh weight), respectively. In contrast, for earthworms collected from a more acidic (pH 4.6) oak-beech forest soil, N(inf2)O emission by earthworms and soil averaged 145 and 45 pmol per h per g (fresh weight), respectively. Based on the extrapolation of this data, earthworms accounted for an estimated 16 and 0.25% of the total N(inf2)O produced at the stand level of these beech and oak-beech forest soils, respectively.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Horn, M. A., Mertel, R., Gehre, M., Kastner, M., Drake, H. L. (2006). In Vivo Emission of Dinitrogen by Earthworms via Denitrifying Bacteria in the Gut. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 1013-1018 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Horn, M. A., Drake, H. L., Schramm, A. (2006). Nitrous Oxide Reductase Genes (nosZ) of Denitrifying Microbial Populations in Soil and the Earthworm Gut Are Phylogenetically Similar. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 1019-1026 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Horn, M. A., Ihssen, J., Matthies, C., Schramm, A., Acker, G., Drake, H. L. (2005). Dechloromonas denitrificans sp. nov., Flavobacterium denitrificans sp. nov., Paenibacillus anaericanus sp. nov. and Paenibacillus terrae strain MH72, N2O-producing bacteria isolated from the gut of the earthworm Aporrectodea caliginosa. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 55: 1255-1265 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ihssen, J., Horn, M. A., Matthies, C., Gossner, A., Schramm, A., Drake, H. L. (2003). N2O-Producing Microorganisms in the Gut of the Earthworm Aporrectodea caliginosa Are Indicative of Ingested Soil Bacteria. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 1655-1661 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Horn, M. A., Schramm, A., Drake, H. L. (2003). The Earthworm Gut: an Ideal Habitat for Ingested N2O-Producing Microorganisms. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69: 1662-1669 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Furlong, M. A., Singleton, D. R., Coleman, D. C., Whitman, W. B. (2002). Molecular and Culture-Based Analyses of Prokaryotic Communities from an Agricultural Soil and the Burrows and Casts of the Earthworm Lumbricus rubellus. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 1265-1279 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gößner, A. S., Devereux, R., Ohnemüller, N., Acker, G., Stackebrandt, E., Drake, H. L. (1999). Thermicanus aegyptius gen. nov., sp. nov., Isolated from Oxic Soil, a Fermentative Microaerophile That Grows Commensally with the Thermophilic Acetogen Moorella thermoacetica. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65: 5124-5133 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Matthies, C., Grießhammer, A., Schmittroth, M., Drake, H. L. (1999). Evidence for Involvement of Gut-Associated Denitrifying Bacteria in Emission of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) by Earthworms Obtained from Garden and Forest Soils. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65: 3599-3604 [Abstract] [Full Text]