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Distribution of sediment ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in plateau freshwater lakes

  • Environmental biotechnology
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Abstract

Both ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) can play important roles in ammonia biotransformation in ecosystems. However, the factors regulating the distribution of these microorganisms in lacustrine ecosystems remain essentially unclear. The present study investigated the effects of geographic location on the distribution of sediment AOA and AOB in 13 freshwater lakes on the Yunnan Plateau (China). The spatial dissimilarity in the abundance and structure of sediment AOA and AOB communities was observed in these plateau lakes. AOA abundance was usually less than AOB abundance, and the AOA/AOB ratio was positively correlated with water depth. Nitrososphaera-like AOA occurred in most of the studied lakes and were dominant in two lakes. Nitrosospira was the dominant AOB species in most of the lakes, while Nitrosomonas showed high abundance only in three lakes. In addition, geographic location was found to affect lake sediment AOB community structure.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41222002 and No. 51279001) and special fund of State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control (14Y02ESPCP).

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Authors and Affiliations

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

    Yong Liu & Yuzhao Li

  2. State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China

    Jingxu Zhang, Yu Dai & Shuguang Xie

  3. Yunnan Key Laboratory of Pollution Process and Management of Plateau Lake-Watershed, Kunming, 650034, China

    Lei Zhao

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  1. Yong Liu
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  2. Jingxu Zhang
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  3. Lei Zhao
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  4. Yuzhao Li
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  5. Yu Dai
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  6. Shuguang Xie
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Correspondence to Shuguang Xie.

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Liu, Y., Zhang, J., Zhao, L. et al. Distribution of sediment ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in plateau freshwater lakes. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 4435–4444 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6341-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6341-z

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