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Beeckman F, Annetta L, Corrochano-Monsalve M, Beeckman T, Motte H. Enhancing agroecosystem nitrogen management: microbial insights for improved nitrification inhibition. Trends Microbiol 2024; 32:590-601. [PMID: 37973432 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2023.10.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2023] [Revised: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 10/20/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023]
Abstract
Nitrification is a key microbial process in the nitrogen (N) cycle that converts ammonia to nitrate. Excessive nitrification, typically occurring in agroecosystems, has negative environmental impacts, including eutrophication and greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrification inhibitors (NIs) are widely used to manage N in agricultural systems by reducing nitrification rates and improving N use efficiency. However, the effectiveness of NIs can vary depending on the soil conditions, which, in turn, affect the microbial community and the balance between different functional groups of nitrifying microorganisms. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of NIs, and how this is affected by the soil microbial communities or abiotic factors, is crucial for promoting sustainable fertilizer practices. Therefore, this review examines the different types of NIs and how abiotic parameters can influence the nitrifying community, and, therefore, the efficacy of NIs. By discussing the latest research in this field, we provide insights that could facilitate the development of more targeted, efficient, or complementary NIs that improve the application of NIs for sustainable management practices in agroecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Beeckman
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Technologiepark 71, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Technologiepark 71, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Laure Annetta
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Technologiepark 71, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Technologiepark 71, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Mario Corrochano-Monsalve
- Departamento de Genética, Antropología Física y Fisiología Animal, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain; Instituto Multidisciplinar Para el Estudio del Medio 'Ramon Margalef', Universidad de Alicante, Carretera de San Vicente del Raspeig s/n, 03690 San Vicente del Raspeig, Spain
| | - Tom Beeckman
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Technologiepark 71, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Technologiepark 71, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
| | - Hans Motte
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Technologiepark 71, 9052 Ghent, Belgium; VIB Center for Plant Systems Biology, Technologiepark 71, 9052 Ghent, Belgium.
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Beeckman F, Drozdzecki A, De Knijf A, Audenaert D, Beeckman T, Motte H. High-throughput assays to identify archaea-targeting nitrification inhibitors. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2024; 14:1283047. [PMID: 38259951 PMCID: PMC10800436 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1283047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024]
Abstract
Nitrification is a microbial process that converts ammonia (NH3) to nitrite (NO2 -) and then to nitrate (NO3 -). The first and rate-limiting step in nitrification is ammonia oxidation, which is conducted by both bacteria and archaea. In agriculture, it is important to control this process as high nitrification rates result in NO3 - leaching, reduced nitrogen (N) availability for the plants and environmental problems such as eutrophication and greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrification inhibitors can be used to block nitrification, and as such reduce N pollution and improve fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) in agriculture. Currently applied inhibitors target the bacteria, and do not block nitrification by ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). While it was long believed that nitrification in agroecosystems was primarily driven by bacteria, recent research has unveiled potential significant contributions from ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), especially when bacterial activity is inhibited. Hence, there is also a need for AOA-targeting nitrification inhibitors. However, to date, almost no AOA-targeting inhibitors are described. Furthermore, AOA are difficult to handle, hindering their use to test or identify possible AOA-targeting nitrification inhibitors. To address the need for AOA-targeting nitrification inhibitors, we developed two miniaturized nitrification inhibition assays using an AOA-enriched nitrifying community or the AOA Nitrosospaera viennensis. These assays enable high-throughput testing of candidate AOA inhibitors. We here present detailed guidelines on the protocols and illustrate their use with some examples. We believe that these assays can contribute to the discovery of future AOA-targeting nitrification inhibitors, which could complement the currently applied inhibitors to increase nitrification inhibition efficiency in the field and as such contribute to a more sustainable agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Beeckman
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Center for Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
| | - Andrzej Drozdzecki
- Screening Core, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
- Centre for Bioassay Development and Screening (C-BIOS), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Alexa De Knijf
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Center for Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
| | - Dominique Audenaert
- Screening Core, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
- Centre for Bioassay Development and Screening (C-BIOS), Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Tom Beeckman
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Center for Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
| | - Hans Motte
- Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Center for Plant Systems Biology, Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), Ghent, Belgium
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Lei J, Fan Q, Yu J, Ma Y, Yin J, Liu R. A meta-analysis to examine whether nitrification inhibitors work through selectively inhibiting ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:962146. [PMID: 35928162 PMCID: PMC9343776 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.962146] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Nitrification inhibitor (NI) is often claimed to be efficient in mitigating nitrogen (N) losses from agricultural production systems by slowing down nitrification. Increasing evidence suggests that ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) have the genetic potential to produce nitrous oxide (N2O) and perform the first step of nitrification, but their contribution to N2O and nitrification remains unclear. Furthermore, both AOA and AOB are probably targets for NIs, but a quantitative synthesis is lacking to identify the “indicator microbe” as the best predictor of NI efficiency under different environmental conditions. In this present study, a meta-analysis to assess the response characteristics of AOB and AOA to NI application was conducted and the relationship between NI efficiency and the AOA and AOB amoA genes response under different conditions was evaluated. The dataset consisted of 48 papers (214 observations). This study showed that NIs on average reduced 58.1% of N2O emissions and increased 71.4% of soil NH4+ concentrations, respectively. When 3, 4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) was applied with both organic and inorganic fertilizers in alkaline medium soils, it had higher efficacy of decreasing N2O emissions than in acidic soils. The abundance of AOB amoA genes was dramatically reduced by about 50% with NI application in most soil types. Decrease in N2O emissions with NI addition was significantly correlated with AOB changes (R2 = 0.135, n = 110, P < 0.01) rather than changes in AOA, and there was an obvious correlation between the changes in NH4+ concentration and AOB amoA gene abundance after NI application (R2 = 0.037, n = 136, P = 0.014). The results indicated the principal role of AOB in nitrification, furthermore, AOB would be the best predictor of NI efficiency.
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