Nitrous oxide metabolism and novel targeted metagenomic techniques for detecting N cycling microbes

Abstract

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a strong greenhouse gas and major ozone-depletor in atmosphere. It’s metabolism is catalyzed by nitrifying and denitrifying microbes. In arctic and boreal ecosystems, there are many interesting ecosystems and unique microbial communities contributing on nitrous oxide production and consumption.

• Archaeal nitrification is a key driver of high nitrous oxide emissions in Arctic peatlands, which are contributing on global N2O budget. (Siljanen et al. 2019, SBB)
• Atmospheric impact of nitrous oxide uptake by boreal forest soils can be comparable to that of methane uptake.
• Targeted metagenomics on inorganic nitrogen and methane cycling genes reveals relative abundance and out-compete other methods for studying diversity of functional genes.