The ammonia-oxidizing nitrifying population of the River Elbe estuary

Abstract

The ammonia-oxidizing bacterial population of the tidal River Elbe was analysed. In the freshwater section of the river, abundance was generally at a magnitude of lo4 cells per g dry weight and lo3 cells per ml in sediments and in water samples, respectively. In the brackish water region, counts decreased drastically with the increase in salinity caused by the low level of abundance of ammonia-oxidizers in the seawater. The contribution of attached ammonia-oxidizers to the total number ranged between 50 and approximately lOO%, depending on the respective load with suspended particulate matter (SPM) of the water. The presence of seven distinct species of the genus Nitrosomonas was established by DNA hybridizations. Based on 16s rRNA gene partial sequence analyses, four groups, comprising phylogenetically closely related species, were defined. Dependence of ammonia oxidation on the NH&l concentration, tolerance against increasing salinity and the possession of urease activity were found to be useful ecophysiological characteristics, being in accordance with phylogenetic relationships among the species.

Effect of Ammonia Concentration on the Nitrification Potential of Ammonia Oxidizing Bacterial Isolates from Fish Processing Waste Effluents

“…Low ammonium concentration in the media might have inhibited their growths and consequently the performances, Similar to results were also reported by earlier workers (Stehr et al, 1995;Suwa et al, 1997;Magalhaes et al, 2005). Since the members of AOB communities are significantly different from one another (Bernhard et al, 2005), it is also possible that some AOBs were more sensitive to low ammonium concentration as observed by Hopkinson et al,(1999).…”

Nitrification in Marine Systems

“…Many authors have described the salinity tolerances of nitrifying bacterial cultures (Macfarlane and Herbert, 1984;Stehr et al, 1995) and it is clear that halotolerance is not the rule among AOB. Seven strains of Nitrosomonas isolated from different regions of the Elbe showed different ranges of salinity tolerance (Stehr et al, 1995).…”

“…Seven strains of Nitrosomonas isolated from different regions of the Elbe showed different ranges of salinity tolerance (Stehr et al, 1995). Nitrosococcus halophilus, one of two known species in the gammaproteobacterial AOB, has a higher salinity optimum and upper limit than does N. oceani, the strain detected widely in the open ocean (Koops et al, 1990).…”

Niche specificity of ammonia-oxidizing archaeal and bacterial communities in a freshwater wetland receiving municipal wastewater in Daqing, Northeast China

“…All these 16 clones were clustered into the Nitrosomonas oligotropha/Nitrosomonas marina lineage. The isolates among this lineage were retrieved from either wastewater or freshwater habitats, and they had low ammonium affinity constants (Koops and Pommerening-Röser 2001;Pommerening-Röser et al 1996;Purkhold et al 2003;Stehr et al 1995). Four sequences in dry-land (D) niche were related to the Nitrosomonas halophila (AF272398) and uncultured AOB clone 17-11 (EU116356), with 96 % identities.…”