Global climate is, in part, regulated by the effect of microbial processes on biogeochemical cycling. The nitrogen cycle, in particular, is driven by microorganisms responsible for the fixation and loss of nitrogen, and the reduction-oxidation transformations of bio-available nitrogen. Within marine systems, nitrogen availability is often the limiting factor in the growth of autotrophic organis...

Aerobic ammonium oxidizing bacteria were first isolated more than 100 years ago and hydroxylamine is known to be an intermediate. The enzymatic steps involving conversion nitrite are still under discussion. For a long time it was assumed that directly converted by oxidoreductase. Recent evidences suggest the actual product of NO third, yet unknown, enzyme further converts nitrite. More recently...

Sterilized soils are commonly used for the study of xenobiotic sorption and as an abiotic control in biodegradation experiments. They are also used for the chemical study of nitrogen and carbon cycle processes and the elimination of the biological factors. In this research the effects of different soil sterilization methods such as autoclaving, fumigating and exposure to ultraviolet and microwa...

Soil microorganisms play important roles in nitrogen cycling within forest ecosystems. Current research has revealed that a wider variety of microorganisms, with unexpected diversity in their functions and phylogenies, are involved in the nitrogen cycle than previously thought, including nitrogen-fixing bacteria, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea, heterotrophic nitrifying microorganisms, a...