Vertical distribution of ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms across a soil profile of the Chinese Loess Plateau and their responses to nitrogen inputs.

Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB) oxidize ammonia into nitrite, the first and rate-limiting step of microbial nitrification, and exert major controls over soil nitrogen transformations. The Loess Plateau in northwest China is characterized with deep soils that are often exposed to the surface and reactive nitrogen (N) inputs due to erosion and human removal of the surface soil. However, few have examined the distribution of AOA and AOB along the profile of Loess Plateau soils and their responses to N inputs.

In Situ Dark Adaptation Enhances the Efficiency of DNA Extraction from Mature Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) Leaves, Facilitating the Identification of Partial Sequences of the 18S rRNA and Isoprene Synthase (IspS) Genes.

Mature oak ( spp.) leaves, although abundantly available during the plants' developmental cycle, are rarely exploited as viable sources of genomic DNA. These leaves are rich in metabolites difficult to remove during standard DNA purification, interfering with downstream molecular genetics applications.