Nature Communications (Feb 2021)

Coupled nitrification and N2 gas production as a cryptic process in oxic riverbeds

  • Liao Ouyang,
  • Bo Thamdrup,
  • Mark Trimmer

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-21400-3
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 8

Abstract

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The N cycle involves complex, microbially-mediated shuttling between ammonium, nitrite and nitrate, with climatically important greenhouse gas byproducts. Here the authors use isotope labeling experiments in river sediments and find a cryptic new step in the N cycle between nitrification and the removal of fixed N through N2 gas production.