Role of Comammox Bacteria in Northeast Forest Nitrogen Cycling

Project Director
Green, HY, .

Recipient Organization
STATE UNIV OF NEW YORK
(N/A)
SYRACUSE,NY 13210

Performing Department
Environmental & Forest Biology

Non Technical Summary
By analyzing samples taken from both nutrient amended and unamended sites, researchers seek to gain a better understanding of two recently discovered bacterial clades that have the unique ability to convert NH4+ to NO3 - (comammox). Using both the Multiple Element Limitation in Northern Hardwood Ecosystems (MELNHE) plots spanning three sites in New Hampshire and the Huntington Wildlife Forest (HWF) in the Adirondacks as study sites (Arbutus Lake study site), the objectives of the study are to determine 1) if the abundance of these two comammox bacterial clades show patterns associated with environmental variation in N and P under ambi-ent conditions at HWF and 2) if the observed niche partitioning at the HWF is confirmed by the experimentally manipulated N and P availability in the MELNHE experiment. A graduate student in Hyatt Green's lab will employ both clade-specific and 16S next-gen DNA sequencing on soil samples and use numerical ecology methods to determine how microbial communities differ between treatments.

Animal Health Component

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

100%

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
123	4099	1100	100%

Knowledge Area
123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
4099 - Microorganisms, general/other;

Field Of Science
1100 - Bacteriology;

Keywords

comammox

multiple element limitation in northern hardwood ecosystems (melnhe)

huntington wildlife forest

nitrification

forest soils

climate change

Goals / Objectives
The goal of this project is to determine how newly discovered comammox bacteria fit into NE forest N-cycling.

Project Methods
This project will be conducted in two concurrent phases: one under ambient, non-experimental conditions at Huntington Wildlife Forest (HWF) and the other on experimental plots experiencing nutrient manipulations (MELNHE). Soil cores (archived in the case of MELNHE) will be analyzed for the abundance of comammox bacteria using qPCR. Abundances will be compared across treatments (MELNHE) or across natural variation in the watershed (HWF). Resources permitting, we will collect microbial community profiles via sequencing.

Progress 08/29/18 to 05/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Training of one graduate student and one undergraduate student. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? We determined these newly discovered organisms are highly prevalent and highly abundant in Adirondack soil samples. Therefore, they are likely highly relevant to N-cycling in Forests.

Publications

Progress 08/29/18 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Microbial ecologists interested in forest soil nitrification. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?This project has provided trianing in molecular techniques for two undergraduate students. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Extract the samples and analyze them with qPCR.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Samples were collected and sent from collaborators. We are still optimizing our extraction procedure to retrieve high-quality abundant DNA in the samples.

Publications