Abundance, composition and activity of ammonia oxidizer and denitrifier communities in metal polluted rice paddies from South China.

ABSTRACT: While microbial nitrogen transformations in soils had been known to be affected by heavy metal pollution, changes in abundance and community structure of the mediating microbial populations had been not yet well characterized in polluted rice soils. Here, by using the prevailing molecular fingerprinting and enzyme activity assays and comparisons to adjacent non-polluted soils, we examined changes in the abundance and activity of ammonia oxidizing and denitrifying communities of rice paddies in two sites with different metal accumulation situation under long-term pollution from metal mining and smelter activities. Potential nitrifying activity was significantly reduced in polluted paddies in both sites while potential denitrifying activity reduced only in the soils with high Cu accumulation

SUBMITTER: Liu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4109924 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature