A Fundamental Shift in Our Understanding – Scientists Unravel a Global Nitrogen Mystery

Groundbreaking research reveals how ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms coexist by preferring different nitrogen sources, significantly advancing our understanding of the global nitrogen cycle and suggesting new strategies for reducing nitrogen-related environmental pollution.has led new research that fundamentally alters the understanding of ammonia oxidation, a key element of the global nitrogen cycle.

“The different lineages of AOM are simultaneous growing in the same environment and were thought to primarily compete for ammonia,” Qin said. “Our collaborative research focused on determining why and how these metabolically conserved lineages are able to coexist without direct competition for inorganic nitrogen , and we examined their abilities to use organic nitrogen instead.

“We always called urea an alternative substrate to ammonia,” Qin said. “Now, we realize that a major lineage of AOM actually prefer urea and repress the use of ammonia when urea is present. This discovery challenges dominant assumptions that had persisted for more than 100 years since the cultivation of the first AOM species.”

The research findings show that different AOM lineages employ different regulatory strategies for ammonia or urea utilization, thereby minimizing direct competition with one another and allowing for coexistence. These differential preferences reveal a hidden physiological biodiversity and have real-world consequences that will need to be explored further., which is a powerful greenhouse gas,” Qin said.

Reference: “Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea exhibit differential nitrogen source preferences” by Wei Qin, Stephany P. Wei, Yue Zheng, Eunkyung Choi, Xiangpeng Li, Juliet Johnston, Xianhui Wan, Britt Abrahamson, Zachary Flinkstrom, Baozhan Wang, Hanyan Li, Lei Hou, Qing Tao, Wyatt W. Chlouber, Xin Sun, Michael Wells, Long Ngo, Kristopher A. Hunt, Hidetoshi Urakawa, Xuanyu Tao, Dongyu Wang, Xiaoyuan Yan, Dazhi Wang, Chongle Pan, Peter K.

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