Predominance and high diversity of genes associated to denitrification in metagenomes of subantarctic coastal sediments exposed to urban pollution.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this work was to characterize the microbial nitrogen cycling potential in sediments from Ushuaia Bay, a subantarctic environment that has suffered a recent explosive demographic growth. Subtidal sediment samples were retrieved in triplicate from two urban points in the Bay, and analyzed through metagenomic shotgun sequencing. Sequences assigned to genes related to nitrification, nitrate reduction and denitrification were predominant in this environment with respect to metagenomes from other environments, including other marine sediments. The nosZ gene, responsible for nitrous oxide transformation into di-nitrogen, presented a high diversity. The majority of NosZ sequences were classified as Clade II (atypical) variants affiliated to different bacterial lineages such as Bacteroid

SUBMITTER: Calderoli PA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6264515 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature