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Growth and N2O production of Nitrosocosmicus clade in agricultural soil when responding to high ammonium inputs

  • Soils, Sec 5 • Soil and Landscape Ecology • Research Article
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

In recent years, some ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) species from the Nitrosocosmicus clade have been suggested to be ammonium tolerant, with ability close to many ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) species. However, the Nitrosocosmicus clade growth and contribution to N2O production in agricultural soil when responding to high ammonium inputs are still unknown.

Methods

Based on three microcosms, the effects of ammonium inputs on the abundance of Nitrosocosmicus clade in AOA community, the Nitrosocosmicus clade growth, and contribution to N2O production were investigated. Based on batch cultivation of Candidatus Nitrosocosmicus agrestis (Ca. N. agrestis) and the microcosm with extra addition of Ca. N. agrestis, AOA contribution to N2O production was studied.

Results

High ammonium inputs benefited the abundance increase of Nitrosocosmicus clade, with relative abundance increased from 2.6 to 9.1–15.5% of the AOA community in DNA samples, and from 1.4 to 15.1–47.5% in RNA samples. High ammonium inputs promoted the growth of Nitrosocosmicus clade, with number accounting for 16.9–22.9% of the total AOA but 48.5–74.2% of the increased AOA. High ammonium inputs also activated the expression of Nitrosocosmicus clade amoA gene. Due to the presence of Nitrosocosmicus clade, high ammonium inputs increased the contribution of AOA to N2O production; in the presence of Ca. N. agrestis, the contribution of AOA to N2O production is comparable to AOB when responding to high ammonium inputs.

Conclusion

The Nitrosocosmicus clade in agricultural soils is likely ammonium tolerant; its growth and contribution to N2O production could be favored by high ammonium inputs.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41977034 and 91951118), the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (No. 2021A1515010565), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (no. 2022ZYGXZR040).

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Author notes

  1. Yiming Jiang and Junlin Wu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Key Laboratory of Fermentation and Enzyme Engineering, School of Biology and Biological Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510006, People’s Republic of China

    Yiming Jiang, Mengfan Liu, Yueyue Zhu, Qinqing Wen, Weitie Lin & Jianfei Luo

  2. Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510070, People’s Republic of China

    Junlin Wu

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  1. Yiming Jiang
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Contributions

YJ, JW, WL, and JL proposed the study and designed the experiment. YJ, JW, and ML conducted microcosmic studies, laboratory measurements, and analyzed the data. YZ and QW helped with laboratory measurements. YJ and JL wrote the manuscript. WL and JL revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Weitie Lin or Jianfei Luo.

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Jiang, Y., Wu, J., Liu, M. et al. Growth and N2O production of Nitrosocosmicus clade in agricultural soil when responding to high ammonium inputs. J Soils Sediments 23, 3458–3471 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-023-03547-2

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