Soil nitrifying bacteria transform ammonia to nitrate, which is more susceptible to ecosystem loss though leaching or denitrification-mediated transformation to gaseous nitrogen species. Until 2006, nitrification was believed to be performed by a limited number of highly specialized bacteria. However, it appears that nitrification is mainly performed by unknown crenarchaota. Virtually, nothing is known about these nitrifying crenarchaeota. The project will use molecular methods to investigate this hitherto unknown group of soil microorganisms and their responses to climate changes.

Contact (More contact info - press here):

Anders Prieme, KU, aprieme@bi.ku.dk