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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 1999, p. 2679-2684, Vol. 65, No. 6
Department of Biotechnological
Sciences1 and Department of Soil and
Water Sciences,2 Agricultural University of
Norway, 1432 Aas, Norway
Received 28 September 1998/Accepted 29 March 1999
Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) are thought to contribute
significantly to N2O production and methane oxidation in
soils. Most of our knowledge derives from experiments with
Nitrosomonas europaea, which appears to be of minor
importance in most soils compared to Nitrosospira spp. We
have conducted a comparative study of levels of aerobic N2O
production in six phylogenetically different Nitrosospira
strains newly isolated from soils and in two N. europaea
and Nitrosospira multiformis type strains. The fraction of
oxidized ammonium released as N2O during aerobic growth was
remarkably constant (0.07 to 0.1%) for all the
Nitrosospira strains, irrespective of the substrate supply
(urea versus ammonium), the pH, or substrate limitation. N. europaea and Nitrosospira multiformis released
similar fractions of N2O when they were supplied with ample
amounts of substrates, but the fractions rose sharply (to 1 to 5%)
when they were restricted by a low pH or substrate limitation.
Phosphate buffer (versus HEPES) doubled the N2O release for
all types of AOB. No detectable oxidation of atmospheric methane was
detected. Calculations based on detection limits as well as data in the
literature on CH4 oxidation by AOB bacteria prove that none
of the tested strains contribute significantly to the oxidation of
atmospheric CH4 in soils.
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Nitrous Oxide Production and Methane Oxidation by
Different Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Soil and Water Sciences, Agricultural University of Norway, P.O. Box 5028, 1432 Aas, Norway. Phone: 47 64948219. Fax: 47 64948211. E-mail:
lars.bakken{at}ijvf.nlh.no.
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