Normalized Quantitative PCR Measurements as Predictors for Ethene Formation at Sites Impacted with Chlorinated Ethenes.

Quantitative PCR (qPCR) targeting Dehalococcoides mccartyi ( Dhc) biomarker genes supports effective management at sites impacted with chlorinated ethenes. To establish correlations between Dhc biomarker gene abundances and ethene formation (i.e.

Denitrification versus respiratory ammonification: environmental controls of two competing dissimilatory NO3(-)/NO2(-) reduction pathways in Shewanella loihica strain PV-4.

Denitrification and respiratory ammonification are two competing, energy-conserving NO3(-)/NO2(-) reduction pathways that have major biogeochemical consequences for N retention, plant growth and climate. Batch and continuous culture experiments using Shewanella loihica strain PV-4, a bacterium possessing both the denitrification and respiratory ammonification pathways, revealed factors that determine NO3(-)/NO2(-) fate. Denitrification dominated at low carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratios (that is, electron donor-limiting growth conditions), whereas ammonium was the predominant product at high C/N ratios (that is, electron acceptor-limiting growth conditions).

Sphaerochaeta multiformis sp. nov., an anaerobic, psychrophilic bacterium isolated from subseafloor sediment, and emended description of the genus Sphaerochaeta.

An anaerobic, psychrophilic bacterium, strain MO-SPC2(T), was isolated from a methanogenic microbial community in a continuous-flow bioreactor that was established from subseafloor sediments collected from off the Shimokita Peninsula of Japan in the north-western Pacific Ocean. Cells were pleomorphic: spherical, annular, curved rod, helical and coccoid cell morphologies were observed. Motility only occurred in helical cells.

Detecting nitrous oxide reductase (NosZ) genes in soil metagenomes: method development and implications for the nitrogen cycle.

Unlabelled: Microbial activities in soils, such as (incomplete) denitrification, represent major sources of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas. The key enzyme for mitigating N2O emissions is NosZ, which catalyzes N2O reduction to N2. We recently described "atypical" functional NosZ proteins encoded by both denitrifiers and nondenitrifiers, which were missed in previous environmental surveys (R.