Archaea in Arctic Soils
Faculty
Research Group Schleper
Research Topic
Research Interest
Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia to nitrate, is a crucial process in arctic soils, as it influences the availability of nitrogen, a major limiting nutrient in these ecosystems. Nitrification also contributes directly and indirectly to N2O production. We investigate the distribution and activity of distinct clades of ammonia oxidizing archaea that we found to be associated with different nitrification rates in arctic soils and we explore their contribution to nitrification in the context of the complex microbial communities found in arctic soils.
Team
- Ricardo Alves (Mag), PhD student
The role of ammonia oxidizing archaea in nitrification of arctic tundra soils (FWF P25369, CRYOCARB) - Anna Zappe, MSc student
Physiological and genomic characterization of Nitrosovradea arctica, an ammonia oxidizing archaeon from arctic tundra soils (FWF P25369) - Stefanie Aiglsdorfer, MSc student
Reaction of terrestrial, arctic ammonia oxidizing archaea and bacteria to temperature increase (CRYOCARB, FWF P25369)
Selected Publications
- Alves R.J., Wanek W., Zappe A., Richter A., Svenning M.M., Schleper C., Urich T. (2013) Nitrification rates in Arctic soils are associated with functionally distinct populations of ammonia-oxidizing archaea. ISME J. 2013 Mar 7. [Epub ahead of print]
- Jorgensen S.L., Hannisdal B., Lanzén A., Baumberger T., Flesland K., Fonseca R., Ovreås L., Steen I.H., Thorseth I.H., Pedersen R.B., Schleper C. (2012) Correlating microbial community profiles with geochemical data in highly stratified sediments from the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 109(42):E2846-55.
Projects
- Ammonia Oxidizing Archaea in Arctic Tundra Soils (FWF P25369)
