Non-cyanobacterial diazotrophs mediate dinitrogen fixation in biological soil crusts during early crust formation.

ABSTRACT: Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are key components of ecosystem productivity in arid lands and they cover a substantial fraction of the terrestrial surface. In particular, BSC N2-fixation contributes significantly to the nitrogen (N) budget of arid land ecosystems. In mature crusts, N2-fixation is largely attributed to heterocystous cyanobacteria; however, early successional crusts possess few N2-fixing cyanobacteria and this suggests that microorganisms other than cyanobacteria mediate N2-fixation during the critical early stages of BSC development. DNA stable isotope probing with (15)N2 revealed that Clostridiaceae and Proteobacteria are the most common microorganisms that assimilate (15)N2 in early successional crusts. The Clostridiaceae identified are divergent from previously characteri

SUBMITTER: Pepe-Ranney C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4737922 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature