Project description:Salinity strongly influences the physiology and distribution of nitrifying microorganisms, yet the effects of low salinity on these key players in nitrogen cycling remain understudied. This study investigates the impact of hypoosmolarity on different groups of ammonia oxidizers in soil and lake environments, as well as in pure culture isolates. In soil microcosms amended with ammonium, at low salinity levels (~120 µS/cm), which are comparable to values commonly found in pristine terrestrial and aquatic environments, the abundance of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), dominated by Nitrosomonas oligotropha, significantly increased. In contrast, the growth of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), dominated by “Ca. Nitrosotenuis” of the Nitrosopumilaceae family, was stimulated by high salinity (~760 µS/cm). In ammonium-fed lake microcosms, the abundance of AOB, dominated by N. oligotropha, significantly increased under both low (~170 µS/cm) and high salinity (~850 µS/cm) conditions. In the presence of allylthiourea, a bacterial nitrification inhibitor, AOA were found to be sensitive to low salinity in both soil and lake microcosms. Consistently, pure culture studies revealed marked growth inhibition of AOA, especially of members of the Nitrosopumilaceae, under hypoosmolarity, unlike AOB and complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox) strains. Comparative genomic analyses with AOB and comammox, along with transcriptomic studies, suggested that the sensitivity of AOA to hypoosmolarity stress is attributed to a lack of sophisticated osmoregulatory transport systems and their S-layer cell wall structure. Overall, this study highlights the importance of hypoosmolarity as a key factor shaping the ecological niches and distribution of ammonia oxidizers as well as nitrification activities in terrestrial and aquatic environments increasingly affected in their salinities by intensified water cycles due to climate change.
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in a Nitrosomonas europaea (ATCC 19718) wildtype and pFur::Kan mutant [kanamycin resistance cassette insertion in the promoter region of the fur gene (NE0616)] strains grown in Fe-replete and Fe-limited media. The Nitrosomonas europaea (ATCC 19718) wiltype cells grown in Fe-limited media were compared to cells grown in Fe-replete media to gain a better understanding of the metabolic changes occurring in response to iron stress. The Nitrosomonas europaea (ATCC 19718) pFur::Kan mutant strain grown in Fe-replete & Fe-limited media were compared to wildtype cells grown in Fe=replete & Fe-limited media to gain a better understanding of the role Fur (NE0616) plays in iron homeostasis control.
Project description:Pure cultures of ammonia oxidizing bacterium, Nitrosomonas europaea, are exposed to cyanide in pseudo-steady state batch reactor in presence of ammonia. Nitrosomonas europaea are generally regarded as the most sensitive organism to various inhibitors commonly encountered in the wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). To find stress genes of Nitrosomonas europaea to cyanide known as inhibitor of respiratory process, whole-genome transcript response to cyanide was determined in this research using microarray and qRT-PCR. When 1 uM NaCN inhibits nitrification about 50 %, transcript levels of 35 genes were increased while transcript levels of 29 genes were decreased, showing more than 2-fold in total 2460 genes. moeZ (NE2353), homologue with rhodanases related to detoxification of CN-, showed 7-fold up regulation and gene cluster including moeZ also showed significant up regulation. Keywords: cyanide, stress response, moeZ
Project description:Investigation of whole genome gene expression level changes in a Nitrosomonas europaea (ATCC 19718) wildtype and pFur::Kan mutant [kanamycin resistance cassette insertion in the promoter region of the fur gene (NE0616)] strains grown in Fe-replete and Fe-limited media. The Nitrosomonas europaea (ATCC 19718) wiltype cells grown in Fe-limited media were compared to cells grown in Fe-replete media to gain a better understanding of the metabolic changes occurring in response to iron stress. The Nitrosomonas europaea (ATCC 19718) pFur::Kan mutant strain grown in Fe-replete & Fe-limited media were compared to wildtype cells grown in Fe=replete & Fe-limited media to gain a better understanding of the role Fur (NE0616) plays in iron homeostasis control. A 4-plex 3 chip study using total RNA recovered from three separate wild-type cultures each of N. europaea grown in Fe-replete media and Fe-limited media and three seperate cultures each of N. europaea pFur::Kan mutant strain grown in Fe-replete and Fe-limited media. Each chip measures the expression level of 2368 genes from Nitrosomonas europaea (ATCC19718) with 4 X 72,000 60-mer 14 probe pairs per gene, with two-fold technical redundancy.