Hydrazine synthase, a unique phylomarker with which to study the presence and biodiversity of anammox bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria play an important role in the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen. They derive their energy for growth from the conversion of ammonium and nitrite into dinitrogen gas in the complete absence of oxygen. Several methods have been used to detect the presence and activity of anammox bacteria in the environment, including 16S rRNA gene-based approaches. The use of the 16S rRNA gene to study biodiversity has the disadvantage that it is not directly related to the physiology of the target organism and that current primers do not completely capture the anammox diversity. Here we report the development of PCR primer sets targeting a subunit of the hydrazine synthase (hzsA), which represents a unique phylogenetic marker for anammox bacteria. The tested

SUBMITTER: Harhangi HR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3264106 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature