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Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Published (Version of record)CC BY V4.0, Open
Journal article
Microbially facilitated nitrogen cycling in tropical corals
The ISME Journal, Vol.16, pp.68-77
01/2022
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Abstract
Tropical scleractinian corals support a diverse assemblage of microbial symbionts. This ‘microbiome’ possesses the requisite functional diversity to conduct a range of nitrogen (N) transformations including denitrification, nitrification, nitrogen fixation and dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). Very little direct evidence has been presented to date verifying that these processes are active within tropical corals. Here we use a combination of stable isotope techniques, nutrient uptake calculations and captured metagenomics to quantify rates of nitrogen cycling processes in a selection of tropical scleractinian corals. Denitrification activity was detected in all species, albeit with very low rates, signifying limited importance in holobiont N removal. Relatively greater nitrogen fixation activity confirms that corals are net N importers to reef systems. Low net nitrification activity suggests limited N regeneration capacity; however substantial gross nitrification activity may be concealed through nitrate consumption. Based on nrfA gene abundance and measured inorganic N fluxes, we calculated significant DNRA activity in the studied corals, which has important implications for coral reef N cycling and warrants more targeted investigation. Through the quantification and characterisation of all relevant N-cycling processes, this study provides clarity on the subject of tropical coral-associated biogeochemical N-cycling.
Details
- Title
- Microbially facilitated nitrogen cycling in tropical corals
- Creators
- Thomas D Glaze (Author) - Southern Cross UniversityDirk V Erler (Author) - Southern Cross UniversityHenri. M. P Siljanen (Author) - University of Eastern Finland
- Publication Details
- The ISME Journal, Vol.16, pp.68-77
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Identifiers
- 991012948598302368
- Copyright
- Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Academic Unit
- National Centre for Flood Research; Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry; Science; Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article