干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Ammonia oxidation is carried out by ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA). The Ebinur Lake wetland is the best example of a temperate arid zone wetland ecosystem in China. Soil samples were collected from rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil containing Halocnemum strobilaceum (samples H and H’), Phragmites australis (samples R and R’), and Karelinia caspia (samples K and K’) to study the relationship between environmental factors and the community structure of AOB and AOA. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the AOA sequences belonged to the Nitrosopumilus and Nitrososphaera clusters. AOB were grouped into Nitrosospira sp. and Nitrosomonas sp. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction results showed that the AOA abundance ranged from 2.09 x 10(4) to 2.94 x 10(5) gene copies/g soil. The highest number of AOA was detected in sample K, followed by samples R and H. AOB abundance varied between 2.91 x 10(5) and 1.05 x 10(6) gene copies/g soil, which was higher than that of AOA. Redundancy analysis indicated that electrical conductivity, pH, and NH4+-N might influence the community structure of AOA and AOB. AOB might play a more crucial role than AOA in ammonia oxidation based on AOB’s higher diversity and abundance in the Ebinur Lake wetland in Xinjiang.