Carbon amendment and soil depth affect the distribution and abundance of denitrifiers in agricultural soils

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international 2016-04, Vol.23 (8), p.7899-7910
• Main Authors: Barrett, M., Khalil, M. I., Jahangir, M. M. R., Lee, C., Cardenas, L. M., Collins, G., Richards, K. G., O’Flaherty, V.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Agriculture; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Bacteria - drug effects; Bacteria - genetics; Carbon; Carbon - pharmacology; Denitrification; Dissolved organic carbon; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental conditions; Environmental engineering; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Genes; Glucose; Grassland; Grasslands; Greenhouse gases; Laboratories; Manures; Nitrates; Nitrite Reductases - genetics; Nitrogen; Nitrogen - analysis; Nitrous oxide; Nitrous Oxide - analysis; Oxidoreductases - genetics; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Research Article; Soil - chemistry; Soil depth; Soil Microbiology; Soils; Studies; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-015-6030-1

The nitrite reductase ( nirS and nirK ) and nitrous oxide reductase-encoding ( nosZ ) genes of denitrifying populations present in an agricultural grassland soil were quantified using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays. Samples from three separate pedological depths at the chosen site were investigated: horizon A (0–10 cm), horizon B (45–55 cm), and horizon C (120–130 cm). The effect of carbon addition (treatment 1, control; treatment 2, glucose-C; treatment 3, dissolved organic carbon (DOC)) on denitrifier gene abundance and N 2 O and N 2 fluxes was determined. In general, denitrifier abundance correlated well with flux measurements; nirS was positively correlated with N 2 O, and nosZ was positively correlated with N 2 ( P