Distribution and Diversity of Comammox Nitrospira in Coastal Wetlands of China

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Dongyao Sun - , East China Normal University (Author)
  • Xiufeng Tang - , East China Normal University (Author)
  • Mengyue Zhao - , East China Normal University (Author)
  • Zongxiao Zhang - , East China Normal University (Author)
  • Lijun Hou - , East China Normal University (Author)
  • Min Liu - , East China Normal University (Author)
  • Baozhan Wang - , Nanjing Agricultural University (Author)
  • Uli Klümper - , Chair of Limnology, Institute for Hydrobiology, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Ping Han - , East China Normal University (Author)

Abstract

Complete ammonia oxidizers (comammox), able to individually oxidize ammonia to nitrate, are considered to play a significant role in the global nitrogen cycle. However, the distribution of comammox Nitrospira in estuarine tidal flat wetland and the environmental drivers affecting their abundance and diversity remain unknown. Here, we present a large-scale investigation on the geographical distribution of comammox Nitrospira along the estuarine tidal flat wetlands of China, where comammox Nitrospira were successfully detected in 9 of the 16 sampling sites. The abundance of comammox Nitrospira ranged from 5.19 × 103 to 8.33 × 104 copies/g, 2.21 to 5.44-folds lower than canonical ammonia oxidizers: ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). Phylogenetic analysis based on the alpha subunit of the ammonia monooxygenase encoding gene (amoA) revealed that comammox Nitrospira Clade A, mainly originating from upstream river inputs, accounts for more than 80% of the detected comammox Nitrospira, whereas comammox Nitrospira clade B were rarely detected. Comammox Nitrospira abundance and dominant comammox Nitrospira OTUs varied within the estuarine samples, showing a geographical pattern. Salinity and pH were the most important environmental drivers affecting the distribution of comammox Nitrospira in estuarine tidal flat wetlands. The abundance of comammox Nitrospira was further negatively correlated with high ammonia and nitrite concentrations. Altogether, this study revealed the existence, abundance and distribution of comammox Nitrospira and the driving environmental factors in estuarine ecosystems, thus providing insights into the ecological niches of this recently discovered nitrifying consortium and their contributions to nitrification in global estuarine environments.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number589268
JournalFrontiers in microbiology
Volume11
Publication statusPublished - 6 Oct 2020
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-4169-6548/work/142247388

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • comammox, distribution, estuarine tidal flat wetlands of China, Nitrospira, salinity