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Anaerobic ammonium oxidation in a tropical freshwater system (Lake Tanganyika)

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation in a tropical freshwater system (Lake Tanganyika)
Anaerobic ammonium oxidation in a tropical freshwater system (Lake Tanganyika)
Here we provide the first direct evidence for the anammox process (anaerobic ammonium oxidation) in a lacustrine system, Lake Tanganyika, the second largest lake in the world. Incubations with (15)N labelled nitrate showed that anammox occurred in the suboxic water layer at 100-110 m water depth. Anammox rates up to 10 nM N(2) h(-1) are comparable to those reported for the marine water column. Up to approximately 13% of produced N(2) could be attributed to the anammox process whereas the remainder was related to denitrification. Typical lipid biomarkers characteristic of anammox bacteria were found in filtered water from the depths where anammox occurred, thus supporting the presence of anammox bacteria. Further evidence is provided by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), revealing up to 13 000 anammox bacteria cells per ml or 1.4% of all DAPI (4'-6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole)-stained cells. Phylogenetic analyses of partial 16S rRNA genes indicated the presence of sequences most closely related to the known anammox bacterium Candidatus "Scalindua brodae" (95.7% similarity). Using the incubation results, a total loss of 0.2 Tg N(2) per year linked to anammox was estimated for the Northern basin of Lake Tanganyika.
1462-2920
1857-1863
Schubert, Carsten J.
3a342804-da96-4f3e-9333-fc054303002d
Durisch-Kaiser, Edith
a1ad08f7-58c2-4249-a086-f327274f8411
Wehrli, Bernhard
a6448cbf-16b9-488f-8d13-e37ce82e9455
Thamdrup, Bo
3d4415ac-370a-4506-b66c-0bec1427b393
Lam, Phyllis
996aef80-a15d-4827-aed8-1b97b378f6ad
Kuypers, Marcel M.M.
b6288cfb-42bc-469c-93fe-8fbb40d97bec
Schubert, Carsten J.
3a342804-da96-4f3e-9333-fc054303002d
Durisch-Kaiser, Edith
a1ad08f7-58c2-4249-a086-f327274f8411
Wehrli, Bernhard
a6448cbf-16b9-488f-8d13-e37ce82e9455
Thamdrup, Bo
3d4415ac-370a-4506-b66c-0bec1427b393
Lam, Phyllis
996aef80-a15d-4827-aed8-1b97b378f6ad
Kuypers, Marcel M.M.
b6288cfb-42bc-469c-93fe-8fbb40d97bec

Schubert, Carsten J., Durisch-Kaiser, Edith, Wehrli, Bernhard, Thamdrup, Bo, Lam, Phyllis and Kuypers, Marcel M.M. (2006) Anaerobic ammonium oxidation in a tropical freshwater system (Lake Tanganyika). Environmental Microbiology, 8 (10), 1857-1863. (doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2006.01074.x). (PMID:16958766)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Here we provide the first direct evidence for the anammox process (anaerobic ammonium oxidation) in a lacustrine system, Lake Tanganyika, the second largest lake in the world. Incubations with (15)N labelled nitrate showed that anammox occurred in the suboxic water layer at 100-110 m water depth. Anammox rates up to 10 nM N(2) h(-1) are comparable to those reported for the marine water column. Up to approximately 13% of produced N(2) could be attributed to the anammox process whereas the remainder was related to denitrification. Typical lipid biomarkers characteristic of anammox bacteria were found in filtered water from the depths where anammox occurred, thus supporting the presence of anammox bacteria. Further evidence is provided by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), revealing up to 13 000 anammox bacteria cells per ml or 1.4% of all DAPI (4'-6-Diamidino-2-phenylindole)-stained cells. Phylogenetic analyses of partial 16S rRNA genes indicated the presence of sequences most closely related to the known anammox bacterium Candidatus "Scalindua brodae" (95.7% similarity). Using the incubation results, a total loss of 0.2 Tg N(2) per year linked to anammox was estimated for the Northern basin of Lake Tanganyika.

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Published date: 2006
Organisations: Ocean Biochemistry & Ecosystems

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Local EPrints ID: 350165
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/350165
ISSN: 1462-2920
PURE UUID: 5e440faa-a85e-4532-850b-b88d20c8ffd6
ORCID for Phyllis Lam: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-2067-171X

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Date deposited: 19 Mar 2013 09:46
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:47

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Contributors

Author: Carsten J. Schubert
Author: Edith Durisch-Kaiser
Author: Bernhard Wehrli
Author: Bo Thamdrup
Author: Phyllis Lam ORCID iD
Author: Marcel M.M. Kuypers

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