Isotopologue fractionation during N(2)O production by fungal denitrification.

Identifying the importance of fungi to nitrous oxide (N2O) production requires a non-intrusive method for differentiating between fungal and bacterial N2O production such as natural abundance stable isotopes. We compare the isotopologue composition of N2O produced during nitrite reduction by the fungal denitrifiers Fusarium oxysporum and Cylindrocarpon tonkinense with published data for N2O production during bacterial nitrification and denitrification. The fractionation factors for bulk nitrogen isotope values for fungal denitrification were in the range -74.