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Microbiology

A fight for scraps of ammonia

Nature volume 549, pages 162–163 (2017)Cite this article

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Bacteria that can oxidize both ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate seem to be better adapted to ammonia-limited environments than most cultured microbes that oxidize ammonia to nitrite only, contrary to expectations. See Letter p.269

The oxidation of ammonia to nitrite and of nitrite to nitrate, known as nitrification, is a central part of the nitrogen cycle, which is a fundamental biogeochemical process. Competition for limited amounts of ammonia is a major factor in shaping the complex communities of bacteria and archaea responsible for nitrification. It has been thought that ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) outcompete ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in environments that have low (submicromolar) concentrations of ammonia1,2. But on page 269, Kits et al.3 show that an unusual bacterium called Nitrospira inopinata, which can perform both steps of nitrification4,5,6, is better adapted to low-ammonia conditions than are most cultured AOA species.

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Figure 1: Substrate affinities for ammonia-oxidizing microbes.

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  1. the Biogeochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology, Bremen, 28359, Germany

    Marcel M. M. Kuypers

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Correspondence to Marcel M. M. Kuypers.

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Kuypers, M. A fight for scraps of ammonia. Nature 549, 162–163 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/549162a

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