Abundance, community and driving factor of nitrifiers in western China plateau

Complete ammonia oxidation (comammox) is one of the most important biogeochemical processes, with recent studies showing that comammox process dominates nitrification in many ecosystems. However, the abundance, community and driving factor of comammox bacteria and other nitrifying microorganisms in plateau wetland is still unclear. Here, the abundances and community features of comammox bacteria, ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in the wetland sediments of western China plateaus were examined using qPCR and high-throughput sequencing. The results indicate that comammox bacteria were more abundant than AOA and AOB, and dominated the nitrification process. Compared with low-elevation samples (below 3000 m: samples 6-10, 12, 13, 15, 16), the abundance of comammox bacteria was much higher at highelevation samples (above 3000 m: samples 1-5, 11, 14, 17, 18). The key species of AOA, AOB, and comammox bacteria were Nitrososphaera viennensis, Nitrosomonas europaea, and Nitrospira nitrificans, respectively. The key factor affecting comammox bacteria community was elevation. Elevation could increase the interaction links of key species Nitrospira nitrificans, resulting in high comammox bacterial abundance. The results of this study advance our knowledge of comammox bacteria in natural ecosystems.

Automated summary

This study examined the abundance and community features of comammox bacteria, ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) in wetland sediments of western China plateaus. The results showed that comammox bacteria were more abundant than AOA and AOB and dominated the nitrification process. Elevation was found to be a key factor influencing the community of comammox bacteria, with higher elevations leading to increased abundance.