Research on Nitrification and Related Processes, Part B

The global nitrogen cycle is the one most impacted by mankind. The past decade has changed our view on many aspects of the microbial biogeochemical cycles, including the global nitrogen cycle, which is mainly due to tremendous advances in methods, techniques and approaches. Many novel processes and the molecular inventory and organisms that facilitate them have been discovered only within the last 5 to 10 years, and the process is in progress. Research on Nitrification and Related Processes, Part B provides state-of-the-art updates on methods and protocols dealing with the detection, isolation and characterization of macromolecules and their hosting organisms that facilitate nitrification and related processes in the nitrogen cycle as well as the challenges of doing so in very diverse environments.

Process Measurements in Natural Systems

1. Strategies to determine diversity, growth and activity of ammonia oxidising archaea in soil
2. Profiles as bio-indicators in polluted coastal marine environments and non-polluted ocean water and sediments
3. Molecular and Stable Isotope Methods to Detect and Measure Anaerobic Ammonium Oxidation (anammox) in Aquatic Ecosystems
4. Nitrogen Mineralization and Assimilation at Millimeter Scales
5. Measurement of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water potential in soil ecosystems.
6. Source determination of nitrous oxide based on nitrogen and oxygen isotope tracing: dealing with oxygen exchange

Process Measurements in Biofilm Communities

7. Structure, function, and eco-physiological interactions among community members in complex multispecies biofilms
8. In Situ Techniques and Digital Image Analysis Methods for Quantifying Spatial Localization Patterns of Nitrifiers and Other Microorganisms in Biofilm and Flocs
9. Investigating Nitrosomonas europaea stress biomarkers in batch, continuous culture and biofilm reactors
10. Nitrification of Raw or Used Water Using Expanded Bed Biofilm Reactor Technology
11. Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria In Wastewater

Genomics, Metagenomics and Transcriptomics

12. Genomics for key players in the N cycle: From Guinea pigs to the next frontier.
13. Preparation of high-molecular-weight DNA and metagenomic libraries from soils and hot springs
14. Characterizing bacterial gene expression in nitrogen cycle metabolism with RT-qPCR.
15. The utility of functional gene arrays for assessing community composition, relative abundance and distribution of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea

Biochemistry & Proteomics

16. Structure and Function of Formate-Dependent Cytochrome c Nitrite Reductase, NrfA
17. Structure and function of Multicopper Oxidase Enzymes of Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria
18. Assessing variability in gel-based proteomic analysis of Nitrosomonas europaea
19. Nitrogen Metabolism and Kinetics of Marine Archaea and other oligotrophs