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Depth-related changes of sediment ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in a high-altitude freshwater wetland

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

Both ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) might be the key microorganisms in ammonia conversion in ecosystems. However, the depth-related change of AOA and AOB in sediment ecosystem is still not clear. The relative contribution of AOA and AOB to nitrification in wetland sediment remains also unclear. Moreover, information about ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in high-altitude freshwater wetland is still lacking. The present study investigated the relative abundances and community structures of AOA and AOB in sediments of a high-altitude freshwater wetland in Yunnan Province (China). Variations of the relative abundances and community structures of AOA and AOB were found in the wetland sediments, dependent on both sampling site and sediment depth. The relative abundances of AOA and AOB (0.04–3.84 and 0.01–0.52 %) and the AOA/AOB ratio (0.12–4.65) showed different depth-related change patterns. AOB community size was usually larger than AOA community size. AOB diversity was usually higher than AOA diversity. AOA diversity decreased with the increase of sediment depth, while AOB diversity showed no obvious link with the sediment depth. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed that AOA diversity had a positive significant correlation with available phosphorus. Nitrosospira-like sequences, with different compositions, predominated in the wetland sediment AOB communities. This work could provide some new insights toward nitrification in freshwater sediment ecosystems.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51279001 and 41222002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, The Key Laboratory of Water and Sediment Sciences (Ministry of Education), Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Yong Liu, Jingxu Zhang, Xiaoling Zhang & Shuguang Xie

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  1. Yong Liu
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  4. Shuguang Xie
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Correspondence to Shuguang Xie.

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Liu, Y., Zhang, J., Zhang, X. et al. Depth-related changes of sediment ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in a high-altitude freshwater wetland. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 98, 5697–5707 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-5651-5

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