Nitrogen Fixation and Microbial Communities Associated with Decomposing Seagrass Leaves in Temperate Coastal Waters.

ABSTRACT: Seagrass meadows play pivotal roles in coastal biochemical cycles, with nitrogen fixation being a well-established process associated with living seagrass. Here, we tested the hypothesis that nitrogen fixation is also associated with seagrass debris in Danish coastal waters. We conducted a 52-day in situ experiment to investigate nitrogen fixation (proxied by acetylene reduction) and dynamics of the microbial community (16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing) and the nitrogen fixing community (nifH DNA/RNA amplicon sequencing) associated with decomposing Zostera marina leaves. The leaves harboured distinct microbial communities, including distinct nitrogen fixers, relative to the surrounding seawater and sediment throughout the experiment. Nitrogen fixation rates were measurable on most days, b

SUBMITTER: Papazachariou V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11324715 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature