Project description:Nitrification, the oxidation of ammonia via nitrite to nitrate, has always been considered to be a two-step process catalysed by chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms oxidizing either ammonia or nitrite. No known nitrifier carries out both steps, although complete nitrification should be energetically advantageous. This functional separation has puzzled microbiologists for a century. Here we report on the discovery and cultivation of a completely nitrifying bacterium from the genus Nitrospira, a globally distributed group of nitrite oxidizers. The genome of this chemolithoautotrophic organism encodes the pathways both for ammonia and nitrite oxidation, which are concomitantly activated during growth by ammonia oxidation to nitrate. Genes affiliated with the phylogenetically distinct ammonia monooxygenase and hydroxylamine dehydrogenase genes of Nitrospira are present in many environments and were retrieved on Nitrospira contigs in new metagenomes from engineered systems. These findings fundamentally change our picture of nitrification and point to completely nitrifying Nitrospira as key components of nitrogen-cycling microbial communities.
Project description:Metaproteomic studies of full-scale activated sludge systems require reproducible protein extraction methods. A systematic evaluation of three different extractions protocols, each in combination with three different methods of cell lysis, and a commercial kit were evaluated. Criteria used for comparison of each method included the extracted protein concentration and the number of identified proteins and peptides as well as their phylogenetic, cell localization and functional distribution and quantitative reproducibility. Furthermore, the advantage of using specific metagenomes and a 2-step database approach was illustrated. The results recommend a protocol for protein extraction from activated sludge based on the protein extraction reagent B-Per and bead beating.