RUI: Collabrative Research: Diversity of Ammonia Monooxygenase Genes form Autotrophic Ammonia Oxidizing Soil Bacteria

9628556克洛兹氮是最常限制植物生长的元素。然而，过度使用化肥可能会导致局部氮素过量，从而对环境产生负面影响。硝化作用是氮循环中的一个关键过程，导致生态系统的氮素损失、地表水和地下水的富营养化以及产生大气中活跃的痕量气体。负责硝化第一步的细菌被称为氨氧化细菌。土壤氨氧化细菌的基本生态学特征仍然很差，至少部分是因为现有的环境中检测这些细菌的方法很难使用。这项研究将基于编码氨氧化关键酶的遗传物质，开发新的方法来表征这些重要的土壤细菌的数量和多样性。这些方法将被用于检测旱地小麦农业系统和西部山地森林场地的土壤氨氧化细菌。

9628556 Klotz Nitrogen is the element most frequently limiting to plant growth. Yet, excess use of fertilizers can lead to local excesses of nitrogen which have negative environmental impacts. Nitrification is a key process in the nitrogen cycle resulting in N loss from ecosystems, eutrophication of surface and ground water and the production of atmospherically active trace gases. The bacteria responsible for the first step in nitrification are known as ammonia oxidizing bacteria. Basic ecological aspects of soil ammonia oxidizing bacteria remain poorly characterized, at least partially because the existing methods for examination of these bacteria in the environment are difficult to use. This study will develop new methods for the characterization of the quantity and diversity of these important soil bacteria based on the genetic material which encodes a key enzyme of ammonia oxidation. These methods will be applied to examine the soil ammonia oxidizing bacteria in a dryland wheat agricultural system and in a western montane forest site.